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WILLIAM COLGATE. 




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WILLIAM COLGATE: 



THE CHRISTIAN LAYMAN. 



BY 



W. W;' EVEBTS, D.D. 



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(( MAY 9 






PHILADELPHIA ! 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 

1420 Chestnut St^et, 



lot COIIOMttl 



v c7 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1881, by the 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



' Westcott & Thomson, 

Stereotypers and Electrotypers. 



TO 

BAPTIST LAYMEN, 

EXEMPLARS OF THE FAITH, 

SUPPORTERS OF THE CHURCHES, 

UPHOLDERS OF THE INSTITUTIONS, AND BENEFACTORS 
OF THE MISSIONS, OF A GREAT DENOMINATION, 

THIS SKETCH OP THE 

LIFE OF ONE OF THE MOST USEFUL OF THEIR CLASS 

is 

RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED. 

W. W. EVERTS. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

PROEM 9 

INTRODUCTION BY AUTHOR 13 

INTRODUCTION BY W. R. WILLIAMS, D. D 27 



I. 
ANCESTRY 53 

II. 
BUSINESS CAREER 65 

III. 

DOMESTIC LIFE . . 75 

IV. 
CHRISTIAN LIFE 87 

V. 
CHURCH DISCIPLINE 105 

7 



8 CONTENTS. 

VI. 

PAGE 

CHURCH WORK 119 

VII. 
CHURCH EXTENSION 141 

VIII. 
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS 161 

IX. 
CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS 169 

X. 
MINISTERIAL EDUCATION 183 

XI. 
THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE 195 

XII. 
A PURE BIBLE 217 

XIII. 
CHARACTER 243 

XIV. 
THE TRANSLATION 261 



PROEM. 



The writer enjoyed rare opportunities for study- 
ing the character of the subject of this sketch. 

He opened his house to his young pastor ; ad- 
vised him, as a father, in the duties of a first 
pastorate, and in the sorrow of an early bereave- 
ment welcomed to the family-vault the remains 
of his dead. 

A deeper insight into his character was gained 
through sympathy with his radical convictions. 
No art can compensate for the lack of this sym- 
pathy. Without it, one may be betrayed into 
apology for rarest virtues or commendation of 
insidious vices, giving appearance of strength to 
native weakness, while obscuring the real dis- 
tinction of true greatness. 

We have sought by this Memoir to illustrate 
the principles of social progress. Though not 



10 PROEM. 

sufficiently eventful to arrest the attention of the 
superficial observer, this life was so inspired by 
religious feeling and fraught with religious activity 
as to become the frame of a picture of rare force 
and beauty, eminently representative of the Chris- 
tian faith. The purpose of the argument, supple- 
menting the narrative, is to vindicate his sacred 
convictions and project his influence into the his- 
tory of the Baptist denomination. 

As in the analysis of a single drop is discovered 
the nature of the waters filling the seas ; as in the 
example of Abraham is revealed the life of all 
believers ; so in this Memoir are represented the 
characteristics of a great people. If this biog- 
raphy champions Baptist principles, it is because 
he cherished them with enthusiasm. If it de- 
fends the Bible work inaugurated by Baptists 
forty years ago, it is because he identified the 
promise of pure Christianity with the faithful 
translation of the Scriptures. 

One would not write a life of Wellington with- 
out mentioning Waterloo, nor the life of Luther 
without naming Worms ; so in this Memoir of 
William Colgate his radical convictions and sac- 



PROEM. 11 

rifices for the Baptist faith are not glossed 
over. 

The biography of any representative man — like 
Carlyle's Frederick the Great, Masson's Milton, 
or Froude's Bunyan — may interweave in the per- 
sonal narrative a history and illustration of the 
character and progress, the faith and institutions, 
of a great people. 

In the life of William Colgate we have at- 
tempted to portray the character and illustrate 
the principles of a great denomination. 

W, W. E. 



INTRODUCTION. 



"THESE ALL DIED IN FAITH!' 

If an honest man is the noblest work of God, a 
study of his character should be the pleasing duty 
of all. Individual or family history is of public 
importance only so far as it illustrates some great 
principle of social progress. An exceptional or 
abnormal life may entertain the curious reader 
without truly instructing him. The very singu- 
larity which fascinates may proportionately mis- 
lead. Admirers of those seeking fortune, place, 
or power through adventurous methods, may be 
lured to hopeless dishonor. Success by inherit- 
ance is scarcely more instructive than that gained 
by wild speculation. Hoarding inherited wealth 
may attest a mere instinct of selfish providence, 
shared equally by bee and beaver. Therefore, 
the thrift of the miser, though perhaps promoting 
in some a necessary economy and frugality, and 
the fortune of the speculator, though doubtless 

2 13 



14 INTR OB UCTIOK 

inspiring beneficent enterprise in sluggish com- 
munities, are alike seductive and dangerous ex- 
amples for the study of the unwary and credulous. 
To seek in them the inspiration and guidance of a 
true life, to the neglect of its normal pursuits, 
would be like surrendering one's self to a bewil- 
dering admiration of the terrific grandeur of the 
storm-cloud or the gorgeous splendor of sunset or 
sunrise, while failing to appreciate the more benef- 
icent and blessed radiance of the noonday. The 
example of a king, prime minister, statesman, 
politician, or speculator can affect practically at 
most but a small class ; while that of a farmer, 
merchant, manufacturer, or even of a lawyer, phy- 
sician, or clergyman, may distinguish by manifold 
precedents the line of march of the army of 
progress. 

We present William Colgate in a twofold repre- 
sentative character : as a business-man, represent- 
ing conspicuously the true industrial, and as a 
Christian man, the true religious, order of society. 
He who attains the best success in an established 
industrial or professional pursuit is a public bene- 
factor. Reaching the head of agriculture, manu- 
factures, arts, or learned profession through indus- 
try, skill, forecast, and enterprise, he sets up way- 
marks for the guidance of others. His successes 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

rob no class, but enrich all. As ^ve award higher 
praise to one rising from the ranks to the head of 
the army through military genius, science, and dis- 
cipline, tested on many a hard-fought field, than 
to one grasping command in the crisis of political 
upheaval and revolution, without talent or train- 
ing ; so we award higher praise to those who win 
the prizes of life in normal pursuits than to those 
who gamble for them in exceptional and adven- 
turous speculations. The more widely the pursuit 
affects the general welfare, the more praise is due 
to him who excels in it. Compared with the 
leaders of great industries, what are the claims to 
grateful appreciation of the ambitious ruler, sway- 
ing a sceptre for personal or family aggrandize- 
ment; of the wary politician, bending all his 
energies to gain the triumphs and spoils of party ; 
of the successful adventurer, jeoparding the means 
and credit of others to heap up unearned wealth ; 
or even of the artist, scientist, or scholar, having 
little sympathy with human brotherhood and only 
intent on personal achievement and distinction ? 
We present this life as a safe, instructive, and in- 
spiring study for all who seek the secret of a true 
worldly prosperity. 

But Mr. Colgate was also a representative Chris- 
tian. Religion, by differences of creed, imparts a 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

distinctive character to peoples, races, and ages. 
Christianity, through diversity of doctrine and dis- 
cipline, has produced various types of clergy and 
laity. How different the cleric and laic character 
of the Papacy and of the Protestant denominations ! 

The Romish and Greek laymen are enthusiastic- 
ally loyal to the priestly order. They are equally 
indifferent to all questions of personal liberty. 

The Lutheran or English churchman honors 
Christian profession, as prescribed by the state, 
even apart from Christian experience. His pa- 
triotism inspires his piety. He would defend his 
church as he would the honor of his country. 

The Presbyterian layman, representing culture, 
civil liberty, high morality, orthodoxy, and missions, 
challenges the admiration of the conservative and 
godly. 

The Methodist layman boasts of one of the most 
powerful organizations in the world for the pro- 
motion of Christian reform, philanthropy, charity, 
and evangelism. Following the march and waving 
the banner of conquest, he everywhere kindles en- 
thusiasm for goodness in the hearts of the masses. 
Any lack of diffused culture or of prestige of social 
position is more than compensated by an all-conse- 
crating zeal. 

The Congregationalist or the Independent lay- 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

man is a perpetual mediator between the old and 
the new. He is not afraid of unsettling confidence 
in any dogma in his endeavor to reconstruct the 
common creed. One school of Independents es- 
pecially, in New England, emboldening irreverent 
and radical speculations, has precipitated clergy 
and laity into an almost total eclipse of faith. An- 
other school has zealously maintained orthodoxy, 
and been distinguished among the foremost cham- 
pions of civil and religious liberty. 

The Universalist layman exalts the goodness at 
the expense of the justice of God. He believes 
the divine compassion will sooner or later gather 
all, however wide and persistent their apostasy 
here, to a blissful abode* Giving no adequate place 
to fear in moral discipline, he enfeebles the motive 
to penitence, prayer, and personal, family, and 
public worship. Religion seems to be a su- 
perfluous care — a pursuit without compensation. 
The shading of justice in moral government is 
not deep enough for a background to set off the 
divine clemency, and the feeling of responsibility 
and of gratitude decline together. Yet as a pro- 
test against exaggerated and materialistic views of 
divine retribution, Universalism has fulfilled a mis- 
sion, and some noble persons, through abounding 
but disproportioned charity, have professed it. 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

The Episcopalian magnifies refinement and de- 
corum in religion. With apparent partiality, he 
seeks the support of culture, wealth, and office. In 
seeking followers he sometimes seems to think the 
avenue to place and the gate of heaven are one. 
The Episcopal Church, through aristocratic sym- 
pathies, more than any other denomination took 
the part of the Tories in the War of Independ- 
ence. But the churchman wisely appreciates the 
instituted order of religion, and exalts ceremonial 
as essential to spiritual worship and culture. The 
observance superficial critics disparage as supersti- 
tion he rigorously maintains as necessary to con- 
serve and celebrate piety. With military precision 
and chivalry he defends and honors religious tra- 
ditions and institutions against the destructive lib- 
eralism which would overthrow divine ordinances 
and banish religion from the world. The annals 
of this church are adorned with not a few names 
resplendent with civic and Christian virtues. 

The layman of the various rationalistic schools 
of theology so magnifies the sufficiency of reason 
as to deny the need of divine revelation or a di- 
vine Saviour. He challenges, precludes the ap- 
proach of, any supernatural idea, motive, or prom- 
ise. Sin is a disease not to be censured, but pitied 
— a trifling irregularity involving no personal guilt 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

and but the slightest penal consequences. Discard- 
ing all ultimate external authority over the con- 
science, the nature of man is his only Bible, his 
own will his only God, and all sacred beliefs are 
superstitions. 

As an effective protest against popular supersti- 
tions, even rationalism accomplishes a beneficent 
mission, and enrolls laymen whose virtues refute 
the pharisaism of a dead orthodoxy. 

The Baptist layman is distinguished by devotion 
to the supremacy of the Scriptures, the lordship 
of Christ, and the voluntary, spiritual, and exclu- 
sive order of the church. He would no more think 
of varying from the prescribed ceremonial and dis- 
cipline of the church than Pagan, Mohammedan, or 
Jew from the established ritual of his faith. Be- 
lieving that Christ has reduced religion to its min- 
imum of order to supersede all other religious in- 
stitutions and incorporate into itself all the sacred- 
ness and sanctions they have claimed, he accepts 
that order as to him a test and standard of piety. 
He could not discard it without rejecting Christ's 
lordship. Those who believe every order of church 
to be equally scriptural may, without violation of 
conscience, observe any form of Christian profes- 
sion, join any denomination, or exchange ecclesi- 
astical relations at any time, for the sake of con- 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

venience, pulpit attractions, or even social advan- 
tage. 

He, however, who believes that the church is a 
specific, and not a miscellaneous order, is bound to 
maintain that order. If he scrupulously observes 
an external form, it is a form prescribed as a test 
of obedience and a symbol of spiritual truth. If 
he is devoted to a ritual, it is the ritual defined in 
the organic law of Christ's church. If he is re- 
proached as a churchman, it is the very church of 
Christ, and not the traditional institutions of men, 
that he honors. If he claims to belong to a more 
scriptural denomination than others, it is because 
he sought that distinction in making Christian pro- 
fession. If he believed any other ecclesiastical 
order more scriptural, he would now seek it, or if 
he believed any other equally scriptural, he might 
at once cease to be a Baptist. This view of the 
exclusive order of the church has necessitated pain- 
ful separation from other believers, even in general 
evangelism, reforms, and missions. 

The late J. P. Crozer, one of the noblest Chris- 
tian laymen of this country, in his earlier Christian 
profession had much at heart association and co- 
operation with other denominations in promoting 
Christianity. But experience convinced him that 
in such alliances his principles were ever liable to 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

be compromised and his testimony to the truth ob- 
structed. Therefore, during the latter part of his 
life he felt constrained to work more exclusively 
through the missions and institutions of his own 
denomination. William Colgate, through the con- 
troversy in the American Bible Society, learned 
that in any union of denominations, where the issue 
was only between Baptists and Pedobaptists, the 
principles and testimony of Baptists must be sac- 
rificed to the union. 

The separation forced upon these brethren has 
been logically forced upon all consistent Baptists. 
In the exclusiveness of the truth they hold in re- 
spect to the eternal kingdom of Christ they have 
fulfilled the prophecy of Israel, the type of the 
church: " Lo, the people shall dwell alone, and 
shall not be reckoned among the nations." Their 
exclusiveness is but an organized protest against 
Antichrist on the one hand and miscellaneous ec- 
clesiasticism on the other. Yet this exclusiveness 
has provoked the thoughtless, invidious, and unchar- 
itable charge of bigotry. Are Baptists bigots for 
maintaining an exclusive order of the church in- 
stituted by Christ and observed 'by his apos- 
tles ? 

Church history shows that those most exclusive 
in loyalty to Christ have always been most cath- 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

olic in their principles and the most earnest de- 
fenders of the rights of all men. Montanists, 
Donatists, Waldenses, and other kindred com- 
munities, though enforcing an exclusive order and 
discipline of the church, were more catholic than 
the Papacy, boasting of broad culture while per- 
secuting and decimating them. Hubmeyer and 
the Anabaptists, guarding the independence, ordi- 
nances, and spirituality of the church by the most 
rigorous discipline, were truer exemplars of the 
catholic spirit and purposes of Christianity than 
Luther and his followers, who perverted Christ's 
ordinances and allied his kingdom with the state, 
and branded Baptists as schismatics. The Lol- 
lards were more catholic than the English Cath- 
olics, who confiscated their goods and burned them 
at the stake. Roger Williams, though persecuted 
for his exclusive views of the church, is now 
celebrated as the foremost champion of religious 
liberty of his time. Bunyan, Gill, Fuller, Ry- 
land, and Hall, though suffering reproach as Dis- 
senters, w T ere truer expounders of the kingdom of 
Christ than contemporary prelacy. 

Who doubts that Spurgeon, belonging to a sect 
everywhere spoken against as narrow and bigoted, 
is a better expounder of the catholic spirit and 
church of Christ than Stanley, who abrogates our 



INTROD UCTION. 23 

Lord's ordinances, denies the independence of his 
church, and subjects his kingdom to the state? 

The exclusiveness of Baptists is but an organ- 
ized protest against encroachments of the hierarchy 
and the miscellaneous sects, and in defence of the 
freedom and catholicity of Christ's church. Award- 
ing to others the rights they so sacredly guard for 
themselves, persecution becomes for ever impos- 
sible. The rigor of their exclusiveness is propor- 
tioned to the magnitude of the rights they guard. 
Only by scrupulous loyalty to Christ can despot- 
isms and superstitions of the world be escaped. 
The charge of bigotry against a people with such 
principles and traditions, foremost champions of 
civil and religious liberty in all lands and ages, 
can only be compared to the accusation brought 
against Jesus and John the Baptist, that they were 
possessed with the devil. 

If loyalty to Christ, the holiest devotion man 
can be inspired w T ith, is liable to such imputation, 
then all exact subjection to order in the realm of 
matter or mind should be challenged as base sub- 
serviency, and universal lawlessness praised as 
catholicity. Scrupulous subjection to Christ, the 
principle that formulates the Baptist denomi- 
nation, does not make bigots, but truly catholic 
Christians. It unites the most effective principle 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

of piety with charity. It develops all social and 
civic as well as moral virtues. 

After the world in blinded prejudice had con- 
demned Jesus as a malefactor and led him away 
to be crucified, the centurion articulated its true 
conscience when he said, " Verily, this was the Son 
of God." So, notwithstanding the continued par- 
tisan calumny heaped upon the Baptists, enlight- 
ened and candid men will honor their devotion to 
the New Testament, and recognize the catholicity 
of their spirit and principles. 

No sect has produced a more various and com- 
petent leadership of society, nor those who have 
borne the honors of wealth or power with more 
Christian dignity and loyalty to their principles. 
We name, in later times, those enrolled among 
them across the sea: Knollys, Hughes, Fox, Gur- 
ney, Havelock, than whom England has pro- 
duced no nobler Christian laymen. On this side 
the water — Tupper, Turpin, Boyce, Crane, Thomas 
of the South; Cobb, Lincoln, Briggs, Gilbert, Dun- 
can, Day, and Colby of New England ; Sage, Mun- 
ro, Beebee, Humphrey, Colgate, Crozer, and Bishop 
of the Middle States ; Walker, McPherson, Broth - 
erton, and Thompson of the West; and others 
throughout the country, it may be less known, but 
not the less noble. 






INTRODUCTION. 25 



These men were outranked by the devotees of 
no faith, the laymen of no sect, or land, or age. 
We revere them as a Christian aristocracy. We 
commend them as representatives of a denomi- 
nation tracing its succession and principles to the 
age of the apostles, conspicuous in the progress 
of civil and religious liberty, now numbering more 
than two millions in this country and rapidly in- 
creasing throughout the world. 

We place William Colgate in a foremost position 
among Baptists. His representative character raises 
him above the sphere of mere personal memoir, and 
gives to his name a prestige which ancestral fame, 
resplendent fortune, intellectual endowment, rare 
culture, or eminent piety alone could not impart, 
and is worthy to be repeated by the followers of 
Christ to the latest generation. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The people of Kent are among the most Saxon 
of Englishmen. Their portion of the island, thrust- 
ing itself forward as the scarp upon which stran- 
gers visiting them from the south and the east of 
the mainland of Europe must first plant their feet 
when coming as invaders ; the sea-borne traffic 
and travel of London sweeping, so much of it, past 
their shores on its way to and from every country 
of the globe ; Csesar having landed there, and their 
own leaders, Hengist and Horsa, having landed 
there, and William the Norman, their conqueror, 
having landed there, and the First Napoleon pur- 
posing long, but purposing fruitlessly, with his Bou- 
logne armament to land there, — the dwellers in this 
county of England have been, like the occupants 
of some great sea-wall, among the most insular and 
self-asserting of all the residents of sea-girt Britain. 

27 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

Kentish men claimed, in earlier centuries, as the 
bravest of fighters, the right of forming the van 
in Anglo-Saxon armies. Canterbury , the seat of 
the primate archbishop of the National Church, 
is within their boundaries. The} 7 " call Augustine, 
who brought the gospel to their Anglo-Saxon pagan 
forefathers, "the apostle of England/' though, in 
fact, men in time much nearer than he to the apos- 
tles had brought, long before, to the British resi- 
dents preceding their own arrival, a more apostol- 
ical type of doctrine than was Augustine's. When 
other portions of Britain accepted the bondman as 
a component element of the community, the Kent- 
ish people refused such arrangements. When the 
rest of the nation gave the land, on the father's 
death, to the elder son, excluding the younger 
children, Kent shared it among all the sons alike, 
and, if there were no sons, among all the daugh- 
ters alike. This gavelkind tenure, as it was 
termed, divided up the ownership of the soil 
among stalwart peasants, of whom each was 
proud to flaunt for himself the title of "A man 
of Kent." A bondman or serf, they held, in 
reality was no man ; and this at a time when vas- 
sals — or villeins, as they were styled — made up a 
large part of society in the rest of England. Their 
independence and thrift gave currency to a rugged 









INTR OB UCTION. 29 

old stanza about the prosperity of these hardy 
freemen as husbandmen : 

"A knight of Cales [Calais], 

A gentleman of Wales, 
And a laird of the north countree, — 

A yeoman of Kent, 

With his yearly rent, 
Will buy them all three/' 

Later statutes of Parliament have much re- 
trenched this old gavelkind tenure, and so crip- 
pled the independence which it infused into the 
popular character. Antiquarians say, too, that 
much more than is sometimes supposed was in- 
herited by Kent and its people from the earlier 
Britons or Celts, whom these Saxons had extruded 
from their sea-coast. The very name of their 
country, Kent — or Cantium, as anciently called — 
is Celtic, indicating its shape, a head or point 
stretching out into the sea — a projecting corner 
that cants out from the island circuit. Their 
rivers, Medway and Stour, have names of Brit- 
ish origin, and the very phrase for their grand law 
of gavelkind is British, as Webster tells us. There 
was a similar tenure of land all over the island till 
the Saxon came. Only the Saxons of Kent in- 
sisted on, and succeeded in retaining from the 
British whom they drove out, this law of heri- 

3* 



30 IXTROD UCTIOX. 

tage, whilst the rest of their Anglo-Saxon com- 
rades accepted feudalism and primogeniture and 
vassalage. So, as to religion also, the Britons 
had the gospel long, very long, before Augustine, 
the Anglo-Saxon's apostle, sent by Gregory, had 
left Rome or had touched Kent, According to 
credible tradition, British converts were won and 
churches gathered in the first apostolic age, full 
five centuries before Augustine. And as invad- 
ing and victorious Paganism, if other historical 
analogies are to be regarded, could have scarcelv 
uprooted and effaced all this Christian influence 
of the subjugated and banished race, its seeds 
must have remained in the sod. The Anglo- 
Saxon Kent, though peculiar, was not as entirely 
original and self-grown as is often imagined. 
Where the law of landed inheritance survived or 
came from the conquered, some moral elements be- 
sides may well have quietly survived also from a 
Christianity apparently proscribed and extirpated. 
Whatever the origin of their traits, the Kentish 
population have been eminently lovers of freedom, 
and ready for the conflicts necessary to assert and 
retain it. It was but an interval of seventy years 
that separated in Kent the popular rising of Wat 
Tyler in one century from that of Jack Cade in 
the next. Memories of war, on the land and on 



INTRO D UCTION. 3 1 

the sea, have seemed to float over the region. In 
our own times, in Walmer'Castle, Kent, the victor 
of Waterloo, as warden of the Cinque Ports- — the 
five old English havens, four of which indent the 
Kentish coast — spent his last years, and there he 
drew his last breath. And before Wellington's 
day, the Pitt family was identified, through two 
generations, with Kent very noticeably. From 
Chatham, one of its naval ports, the elder Wil- 
liam Pitt took the title of his earldom. His 
daughter, married to the third Earl of Stanhope, 
lived at Chevening Park, near Sevenoaks, in 
Kent ; and at Chevening is yet preserved and 
shown the manuscript tragedy which her brother, 
the younger William Pitt, when a mere lad, 
wrote. Though never printed, it is cherished as 
a proof of the boy's wondrous precocity, who but 
a few years after was to become the dominant 
statesman in a critical and portentous era of his 
country's history, when Burke, Sheridan, Erskine, 
and Fox were among his competitors. At Hol- 
wood Hill, in the same county, a few miles nearer 
London, he loved, in later and weary years, to seek 
the retirement which his vast cares so needed. In 
that Chevening home was trained the niece of 
William Pitt, the daughter of his only sister, the 
Lady Hester Stanhope, who presided so long at 



32 



10DUCTI0N. 



her uncle's bachelor board, and who on his death 
went to play so strange and weird a part as chief- 
tainess in Mount Lebanon, dazzling the Arabs 
and expecting there a sort of Moslem Messiah. 
The father of William Colgate belonged to one 
of the old 3 r eomen Kentish stocks, for centuries 
rooted in that soil and imbibing its strong traits. 
It is a family tradition that in schoolboy days 
there was intimacy between him and the younger 
Pitt. The success of our American Revolution, 
and the speedy attempts, under the old Bourbon 
monarchy of France, to inaugurate the European 
counterpart of the American upheaval, called forth 
in England the most vivid and widespread excite- 
ment. In the early years of the Transatlantic 
and of the French struggles, Charles Fox, a states- 
man and patriot of high endowments, affected — and 
his friends and party affected with him — to wear 
the buff and blue, the colors of Washington and 
his officers in their regimentals when fighting the 
red-coated soldiery of England. It was a mute 
token of sympathy with Washington's quarrel and 
principles in the early stage of the collision. But 
these British sympathizers with the first com- 
plaints of the American colonists dreaded and 
deprecated the ultimate severance of the Colonies " 
from the mother country. The yellow paper on 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

the back of the great literary organ, the Edinburgh 
Review — which in its first years lorded it without 
a rival over English criticism — and the azure hue 
of its side-covers made it, as Byron called it, the 
Buff and Blue organ, and were a quiet proclama- 
tion that it wore the livery of the great Whig 
party for whom it spoke. 

Many of the English Dissenters were not slow 
to express similar feelings with those cherished at 
first by English Whigs in Parliament toward the 
American Colonies. Robert Hall, when a mere 
boy sent from home to be a pupil-boarder w T ith 
the eccentric but devout John Ryland, Senior, 
the father of Ryland of Bristol, was startled to 
hear his instructor assure some friends that, if in 
Washington's place, he would draw blood from 
his arm and drink it in a vow of loyalty to the 
death to their patriotic cause. But as time w r ent 
on, and the infidelity, ripened to rottenness in 
France, had its English copyists like Thomas 
Paine, the banners of scepticism flung out in 
England startled there all the lovers of the old 
gospel. Many Britons, who had read eagerly 
Paine 's Rights of Man, shrank with detestation 
from his later book, The Age of Reason, as con- 
taining deadliest wrongs to God and to the Christ 
of God. The excesses, early manifesting them- 



34 IXTRODUCTION. 

selves in the rapidly-shifting scenes of the French 
Revolution, made the abhorrence and the dread 
throughout English society each day more intense 
as well as more widely spread. Burke, who had 
been in his long preceding career the earnest 
champion of political reform, now by his warn- 
ings against French principles and procedures 
became the oracle of the court and of its most 
passionate Tory retainers. Fox and his friends 
lost their hold on the confidence of large bodies 
of the people who had before been inclined to 
follow their guidance. The younger Pitt, who in 
his earlier years had planned large measures of 
parliamentary reform, now felt himself coerced 
into reaction. To him a policy of repression and 
intimidation seemed now needful, in order to pre- 
serve not the Crown only, but the country itself 
and all its highest interests, from anarchy and 
ferocious desolation. Men like Parr deplored 
most passionately the severities of Pitt, in the 
conviction and imprisonment or exile of men 
like Wakefield and Muir and Palmer. 

The elder Colgate, father of William Colgate, 
had become very thoroughly identified with the 
party that sought reform, but who, by their Tory 
neighbors and rulers, were helcl to be contriving a 
sanguinary revolution. Pitt, it is said, in remem- 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

brance of their boyish friendship, procured the 
transmission to Colgate of a message that he 
might within an indicated period be allowed 
quietly to leave the country ; but that, failing 
to do so, he would certainly be arrested, as an 
earnest and popular partisan, indicted ; and must 
expect, on a prompt conviction, to share the full 
and dire effect of the measures which the Govern- 
ment were applying to others. Those measures 
had sent some men of education and character to 
a prolonged imprisonment at home, or in deporta- 
tion abroad to Australian shores, at that time iden- 
tified with vulgar and brazen vice, and where pick- 
pockets, burglars, and makers of base coin, the 
sweepings of jails and kennels, formed as yet the 
chief body of the colonists. Colgate judged ex- 
patriation inevitable, and a new home in the 
Western Republic, whose struggles for freedom he 
had admired, had its attractiveness. It w r as an 
evidence of his hold on the community which 
from childhood had known him, that a great body 
of neighbors and friends on horseback escorted 
him to the port of embarkation. With a large 
and youngs family, the transfer at his age, and 
with habits mature and fixed, to a new country 
and its strange adjustments, involved some quite 
heavy disasters. In Maryland, and in our own 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

State of New York, in the vicinity of its metrop- 
olis, these disasters seemed to augment with each 
new attempt to establish a home. He turned at last 
to what, in those days, was the fresh wilderness 
of Delaware County, New York, where his de- 
clining years found a quiet shelter. 

The portion of the English Dissenters who had 
become most early and fiercely identified with po- 
litical agitation were the part who had estranged 
themselves from the old Puritan orthodoxy. Price, 
Priestley, and Toulmin were among their leaders. 
Robinson, the Baptist pastor of Cambridge, once 
an evangelical Calvinist, gave up, as he flippantly 
said, belief in a Satan to believe in a Christ ; but 
of that Christ he denied the atonement and the 
Godhead, though his own earlier works had advo- 
cated these truths. In his last days he assured 
Priestley that his (Priestley's) influence had saved 
him from becoming a mere Deist. George Dyer, 
Robinson's biographer, who had also swerved from 
the old standards, yet hints, when citing Robinson's 
remark to Priestley, that Robinson's eulogies of 
new associates were often more flattering than sin- 
cere, and must not be too literally interpreted. The 
Rationalism that reaches such advanced stages be- 
comes often wildly chimerical and reckless, and, 
spite of its name, flagrantly irrational. The elder 



INTRODUCTION, 37 

Colgate had been, more or less, under the influence 
of a dissent tainted with heresy, His late Amer- 
ican years are said to have brought him back to 
the sounder views of the pious forefathers, winning 
him to the redeeming Cross and the renewing 
Paraclete. Ryland of Bristol, Andrew Fuller, 
William Carey, Samuel Pearce, Robert Hall, and 
his father, Hall of Arnsby, took generally small or 
no part in political debate ; held by the old moor- 
ings of the faith ; and became, by God's blessing, 
most successful in home evangelization, in missions 
to the Far East,- and in the translation and wide 
diffusion of the Bible. 

The biography to which these remarks are but 
introductory tells how nobly and bravely William 
Colgate, the eldest son, left in his early manhood 
in a great city almost with no means, became a 
journeyman and qualified himself for a trade that 
grew in his hands into a great manufacture ; gath- 
ered his brothers around him, and became a power 
in the community and in the religious denomina- 
tion to which he attached himself. Alert, diligent, 
vigilant and courteous, systematic and persistent, 
he displayed some of the marked traits of his 
Kentish ancestry. It is not to be held that de- 
scent decides a man's destiny. Each soul has its 
own separate traits and its own intransferable re- 

4 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

sponsibility, and the grace of God is the grand 
agency to develop the highest powers of man's 
nature. But as in Paul's Galatians we see the 
characteristic warmth and the characteristic fickle- 
ness attributed after the lapse of centuries to their 
kindred Celts of modern Britain, we learn how 
long transmissible may be national endowments, 
and discern how divine truth and divine grace 
even, in the channels of their workings, follow 
the cleavages, so to speak, of hereditary character. 

Attending the ministry of John M. Mason, the 
great preacher of the American pulpit, young Col- 
gate desired to join himself to that church if he 
could but receive baptism in the mode of im- 
mersion, which his scriptural studies led him to 
regard as the one that the Bible prescribed. He 
applied to a Baptist minister to administer the 
ordinance thus to him, that, having received this 
rite from his hands, he might go over to the Pres- 
byterian communion. The Baptist refused. Fur- 
ther reflection weaned Colgate from his earlier 
project. His lot was cast thereafter with the 
Baptists, and he never regretted the decision. 

A man of the people, he looked to their needs 
and augured readily their feelings. Early made 
a deacon, he found a large influence forming itself 
around him as by a natural, insensible accretion. 



INTRODUCTION. 39 

To facilitate and secure the attendance of the 
masses, he desired the removal of the pew system, 
and, like the early Wesleyans, to make all sittings 
in all sanctuaries free to the first occupant. The 
interests of families who would fain not be divided 
in God's house, and the necessity for revenues to 
support pulpit and worship — revenues most reg- 
ularly secured by pew-letting — were pleaded long 
against him. In the removal of his interest and 
attendance to a languishing church, which he and 
his friends sought to resuscitate, he secured in this 
new religious home the adoption of the method 
of free pews, and persevered, though abv a large 
cost to himself, for years in its retention. 

Bringing in" the services of the Rev. Jacob 
Knapp, a most vigorous, though rugged a devout 
and effective, preacher, he had the joy of hailing 
most of his numerous household, or all, brought 
into the membership of the church in the pro- 
tracted meetings, as they were termed. When, 
removing from their old site, the church erected 
a new and attractive sanctuary in the upper part 
of the city, his intelligent forecast was shown in 
selecting for it land on the old Stuyvesant and 
Fish estate upon the Second Avenue, at a point 
commanding the traveller's eye from the Third 
Avenue and the Bowery, as well as those journey- 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

ing along the avenue on which the edifice fronted. 
But the expenditures to be incurred and continued 
were such that he was compelled to yield to the 
wishes of those aiding him in the new enterprise, 
and to return to the pew-letting system which he 
had early opposed and for some time disused. 

Though not a man of books, and his own early 
education having been limited by the necessities 
of a youth comparatively portionless, which. must 
be promptly dedicated to and engrossed by mer- 
cantile pursuits, he valued education, especially 
for the ministry, and became among the earliest 
of its munificent supporters in the Hamilton Theo- 
logical School of New York State. This expanded 
into a theological seminary, a university, and a 
preparatory academy training pupils for both 
these. It was a charge which became in some 
sense part of his moral and spiritual bequest to his 
children, and lavishly have they met the require- 
ments of the parental trust. Though not in legal 
form, yet it was to affection and to memory placed, 
as it were, by both their parents upon their filial 
hands and bound upon their hearts. 

The writer of this sketch was less closely in- 
timate with Mr. Colgate than with his brother-in- 
law and fellow-deacon, the late Joshua Gilbert — a 
man of less suavity of manner than Mr. Colgate, 



INTR OB UCTION. 4 L 

but having, under a somewhat rugged crust of 
aspect and deportment, great kindliness and sweet- 
ness, strong sense, and earnest piety. The two 
kinsmen did not always coincide in judgment, had 
sometimes their kindly, witty jousts, and were at 
times rivals in business ; but cherished a true fra- 
ternal regard, and helped, each in his own chosen 
way, the common cause of godliness and right, 
whicti-was to both supremely dear. 

In the w r ork of distributing the English Bible 
Mr. Colgate was early enlisted, and in sustaining 
the Baptist missionaries at Serampore who ren- 
dered the Scriptures into so many of the old 
tongues of the East. His home w T as open as a 
hospitable refuge to the ministers and missionaries 
who visited our city, and who, in the earlier days 
of our churches, looked not so much to hotels as 
to their denominational brethren for the shelter 
of roof-tree and the spreading of their daily table. 
He was for years a generous entertainer, and thus 
knew widely and kindly the leaders of our denom- 
ination in many States of the Union. 

When the question came up of asking for our 
Eastern versions, made by missionaries like Carey, 
Yates, and Judson, the support of the great na- 
tional society of various evangelical denominations, 
the American Bible Society, he, with Drs. Cone 

4* 



42 INTROD UCTION. 

and Maclay and the great body of our denomina- 
tion, thought that the versions, distinctively of Bap- 
tists, should be sustained by that Society's funds and 
patronage. There were a few, however — as the 
late Pres. Way land, Dr. Sharp of Boston, and the 
lamented Nathan Bishop, and some others — who, 
though Baptists, took the ground of sustaining the 
Resolution drafted, probably, by Wayland, but pre- 
sented in the Society Board by the late Dr. Brig- 
ham, Chief Secretary of the Society. This Resolu- 
tion held that, to receive support from a National 
Society, Foreign Versions should, like the received 
English Version, be such that all evangelical de- 
nominations could coalesce in upholding them. 
The few Baptists who sustained that Resolution — 
the one finally adopted by the American Bible So- 
ciety — held that the alternative, if this course were 
not adopted, would be — and which some eager Bap- 
tists urged that it should be, and which they would 
have the Society solemnly establish — that each re- 
ligious sect and its missionary society should be 
held responsible, apart, for the character and ade- 
quacy of its own foreign versions. Those prefer- 
ring the alternative would have the American Bible 
Society, as a common mother, accept and nurse all 
these foreign versions with an equal, impartial re- 
gard. As the English Baptists had lost not long 



INTRODUCTION. 43 

before the Rev. Mr. Adam, a missionary sent to 
India by our English brethren, but there become a 
Unitarian, and as the American Unitarians had 
lately taken him up as their Unitarian representa- 
tive and missionary in the Eastern field, it seemed 
that, had the American Bible Society consented to 
the views thus urged for a platform of indiscrim- 
inate patronage, that Society might soon be sum- 
moned to circulate a Unitarian Bible in some one 
of Hindostan's many dialects. The criticisms of 
men like Gilbert Wakefield, Priestley, Belsham, 
and Lant Carpenter upon doctrines and texts dear 
to the evangelical churches made the outlook for 
the heathen world w T ho should be thus led, and for 
the Christendom thus leading their heathen neo- 
phytes, an outlook full of gloom and of dismay. 
The old Jansenists of France had moved the ire 
of their former pupil, the dramatist Racine, when 
they, the Jansenists, spoke of dramatists generally 
as men who, by their false principles, poisoned the 
public wells. Evangelical believers in Britain and 
in America feared that a flinging down of barriers 
in this rash fashion proposed by some innovators 
would be virtually a poisoning of God's own wells 
of salvation. A wild Rationalism, they feared, 
would be given thus free scope to retrench here 
the God-given text, and to alter balefully there the 



44 INTRODUCTION. 

sense of such texts as might be retained. To their 
minds, such a plan of indiscriminate and all-em- 
bracing patronage promised a hocch-potch of death, 
such as the prophet's servant mournfully announced 
when the wild gourds were shred into the pottage ; 
but here no prophet Elisha would be at hand mi- 
raculously to make the bane harmless and to bless 
the meal into wholesomeness. 

But it seems due to the integrity of history here 
to note that the Baptists opposing such large ac- 
ceptance of all foreign versions — Baptists few in 
number then, and far outvoted in their own de- 
nominational ranks — never meant to give up their 
own denominational missionary versions. They 
held, on the contrary, that these should be sus- 
tained tenaciously and liberally ; but that, in con- 
sistency, the missionary society employing the 
teacher and making the version should sustain 
translator and translation. But their position was 
very often misapprehended. When Dr. Judson, 
long after, in person visited our shores, that excel- 
lent missionary seemed amazed when, from the 
writer of these lines, he learned this as the real 
meaning of the Baptists sustaining the Resolution 
of the American Bible Society. He had supposed, 
until that time, that they meant to have his Bur- 
man version modified. They meant nothing of the 



INTRODUCTION. 45 

kind. As a Baptist, he must so make it as lie had. 
As Baptists, they must sustain it so made. But 
they only held that its support should, in denom- 
inational fairness, come, not from a general and 
national society, like the American Bible Society, 
but from the denominational Missionary Society 
that chose and sent the translator. 

If a time should ever come — and it may come 
sooner than to unbelief it yet seems possible — when 
the various evangelical bodies shall fall back upon 
the position now held by many Pedobaptist scholars 
of eminence, that the early Christian churches did 
in fact immerse, and that the New Testament 
term means originally immersion, then, other 
bodies than Baptists may become willing to sus- 
tain foreign versions stating this fact as to primi- 
tive usage. And then, in such case, the existing 
rule of the American Bible Society may be con- 
strued, in such altered state of feeling among the 
denominations, to take under its patronage the 
labors of a Carey, Judson, Yates, Wenger, and 
N. Brown, in consequence of these new modi- 
fications of opinion among the Pedobaptist sup- 
porters of Bible Societies. 

Prom versions abroad the discussion widened in 
our churches to take in the existing English Ver- 
sion. There were new controversies, which led to 



46 INTROD UCTIOK 

the formation of the second Bible Society among 
American Baptists — the American Bible Union. 
Among its first work was to be the preparation 
of an English Version, substituting for " baptism," 
the old Greek word which had passed bodily over 
into the Latin and the English tongues, but which 
to some Baptists seemed grown vague from preva- 
lent misconceptions, the later Latin word "immer- 
sion." Large expenditures were incurred. Some 
of the criticisms on King James's Version, or rather 
that of his translators, were needlessly severe, and 
its literary merits were grievously disparaged. 
With the ardor of his temperament, Mr. Colgate 
had hopes of the speedy preparation of such re- 
modelled, and, as he would hold it, juster, version 
for English readers. These hopes were not crown- 
ed with the early or entire success which he had 
anticipated. 

In the scholarship of the brother into whose 
hands this work has now past the brethren of his 
own churches have great confidence. They know 
that a new rendering from him cannot fail to be 
elaborate and scholarly, worthy just respect, and 
requiring and rewarding frequent consultation. 
And yet they do not know that his toils will, for 
English schools and homes, prove more adequate 
to displace the older book, than those of De Wette 



INTROD TJCTIOK 47 

have been in Germany and those of Van der Palm 
in Holland, to dislodge the volumes Luther gave 
to one land and the Synod of Dort gave to the 
other. Even from him in the ripeness of his 
years and studies — which may God lengthen and 
richly bless! — some of his brethren may fail to ex- 
pect a version more rich, devout, and musical, as 
well as exact, more instinct with inner life, more 
surcharged with hallowed memories ; and that shall 
irrevocably banish the beautiful Bible of our fathers 
and of our old confessors. It is a book on w r hose 
lids not only, but on whose very leaves, rests the 
martyr-dust of collaborators like Tyndale and Cran- 
mer and Rogers, burnt at the stake to white 
ashes for their endeavors to secure and refine this 
volume. The fragrance of their holocaust clings 
to its pages. The stake where each such con- 
fessor manfully died, aided to scatter their book 
abroad to every coast where the English tongue is 
spoken, and whither British and American keels 
carry the freedom, the enterprise, the culture, the 
intelligence, the sympathies, alms, and prayers of 
the English-speaking races. Let us hope in God's 
good Spirit, and in his sleepless and infallible prov- 
idence, for the best issue of all research. But in 
the grace and love of our common Lord let us not 
prejudge and let us not contend. The day will 



48 INTRODUCTIOX. 

declare. Let every man be fully persuaded in his 
own mind, and hamper not his brother. 

Diffusing over a large family circle the influence 
of his example and his inspiriting memory, follow- 
ing in a ripe age to the tomb the wife of his youth, 
not by very many years preceding him thither, and 
leaving, after large munificence in the cause of re- 
ligion and education, an ample estate to his chil- 
dren, William Colgate was gathered, a true " man 
of Kent," to his grave on these Western shores, 
where new institutions gave free scope to his old 
hereditary traits, and where so many lineages and 
tongues melt amicably into national unity. Those 
of us who may not have always shared his opinions 
or followed his guidance in some side-issues can 
thankfully cherish the memory of one so energetic, 
shrewd, bounteous, unwearied, and successful, and 
look with a humble trust to the land where all 
Christ's people, at the Master's feet, shall be re- 
united in a brotherhood of common worship and 
ever-growing knowledge and ever closer accord. 

His popular sympathies won him hosts of at- 
tached allies and supporters. His diligent stew- 
ardship for Christ was not, in his Master's bounty, 
permitted to exhaust his personal resources, but 
served only to consolidate, to augment, and to ex- 
alt them. Rich in means, and yet richer in friends, 



INTEOD UOTION. 49 

he was, with glad memories of the past, called away 
to yet more glorious anticipations for the long fu- 
ture. In the brightness and vastness of that fu- 
ture the earthly career of even a Melchisedek 
shrinks as into a dark and narrow porch, intro- 
ducing to mansions unspeakably and inconceivably 
great in their proportions and in their dazzling 
splendor. " To be ever with the Lord." What 
Bible even can exhaust by its most lucid and 
gorgeous descriptions the treasures condensed 
into that brief sentence? 

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. 

New Yoek, April, 1881. 

5 D 



I. 

ANCESTRY. 



William Colgate. 



i. 

ANCESTRY, 



" The unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy 
grandmother Lois and in thy mother Eunice; and I am per- 
suaded is in thee also." 

Personal fame reflects social progress. The 
names of patriarchs and prophets represent epochs 
in Hebrew history. The names of poets, philos- 
ophers, artists, and statesmen exhibit the glory of 
Greek culture. The Csesars and Ciceros give Rome 
her immortality. Cavour embodied all that was 
great and good in Italy, Thiers in France, Lincoln 
in America, as Gladstone and Bismarck still rep- 
resent the culture and empire of Britain and Ger- 
many. All modern states, in the enthusiasm of 
hero-worship, ascribe their glory to the achieve- 
ments of a few representative men. 

Religious faiths are monuments of those who 
formulated them, and schools of theology cele- 

5* 53 



54 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

brate the names of those who founded them. 
Lutheranism perpetuates the name of the great 
Reformer of the sixteenth century ; Calvinism is 
the memorial of the most acute and learned 
theologian of his time ; Methodism continues to 
celebrate the personal piety and mission of the 
Wesleys. Throughout Christendom less organ- 
ized bodies have owed the championship and 
progress of their faith to personal example, tes- 
timony, and sacrifice. Montanus, Donatus, Hub- 
meyer, Roger Williams, and their fellow-martyrs 
celebrated the apostolic or Baptist faith through 
the ages. In less conspicuous spheres men worthy 
to be called their successors have continued to 
serve and sacrifice for that faith. Prominent 
among these is William Colgate, whose tradi- 
tional virtues and sterling, energetic piety made 
him a trusted leader of men. The Sierra Nevada 
forest is not more wonderful for the magnitude of 
individual trees than for the many majestic forms 
that tower around the Grizzly Giant and claim 
kindred with it, in that greatest pinery of the 
globe. Worthy men generally arise from a wor- 
thy ancestry, and appear among a worthy kindred. 
The truthful and heroic character of William 
Colgate was derived from an ancestry that helped 
to perpetuate English liberty, Protestantism, and 



ANCESTRY. 55 

piety. As the pre-eminence and permanence of 
the Sierra Nevada pines were provided for by 
the expansion and firmness of the trunk near the 
ground, like the base of a pyramid, adapted to lift 
and hold the giant tree in the upper air securely 
against the storms of centuries, so the subject of 
this memoir was buttressed by the convictions of 
a radical ancestry, holding, contending, and suffer- 
ing for political and religious liberty. 

In the thirteenth century, a street and a ward 
in Norwich, England, bore the family name ; and 
two parishes claim — the one a St. George, and the 
other a St. Margaret Colgate. In 1410, the family 
were domiciled in Kent County, and the name is 
traced in titles to property. The name appears 
again among the Separatists, who fled to Holland 
in the sixteenth century to escape persecution. 

William Colgate was born January 25, 1783, in 
the parish of Hollingbourn, county of Kent, about 
five miles from the old and flourishing town of 
Maidstone. When he was six years old his 
father, Robert, moved to Shoreham, where Wil- 
liam passed six years on the farm. The old 
homestead, as shown by a painting in possession 
of the family, is picturesque with lawn and 
meadow, water-view and skirting forest, in quiet 
beauty^fit to have been the birthplace of poet or 



56 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

philosopher. An English home, so charming in 
its ideal conception, was enshrined there. His 
father had taken a lively interest in politics, and 
on market-days gathered the people, read to them 
the proceedings of Parliament, inveighed against 
oppressive laws, and advocated the rights of labor 
and conscience ; so that he became widely known 
as a tribune of the people, defending the equal 
rights of all classes. As a champion of the Dis- 
senters he had sympathized with the cause of the 
people in the French and the American Revo- 
lutions. During the War of Independence he 
watched with tender solicitude the progress of 
every campaign and the issue of every battle. 
In the evenings he would spread a map of the 
Colonies on the table and trace before his family 
the position of the armies and the fields of battle. 
Where the Colonists were defeated, he kept the sad 
record by piercing the map with a fork. Where 
the invading army were defeated, he recorded the 
joyful event by piercing two holes in the map. 

This sympathy with the democracy of France 
and America could not escape the notice of the 
government. At the dinners which closed the 
market-days at Seven Oaks, Robert Colgate often 
presided, and harangued the people in reference to 
the corruption of Parliament and the sacrifice of 



ANCESTRY. 57 

the rights of the people, and toasts were drunk 
pledging devotion to reform. William Colgate, 
though a little boy, remembered the daring senti- 
ments expressed at these meetings. A respected 
farmer on one occasion said, " that if a French 
army were to cross the Channel and raise the 
standard of revolution, it would be joined by the 
people in marching on London to demand reform." 
Another, cutting off w 7 ith his knife the froth from 
an overflowing mug, exclaimed, " Thus may it be 
w T ith all crowned heads !" The enthusiasm greet- 
ing this violent sentiment attested the spirit and 
peril of the times. Twelve men were arrested 
and imprisoned in the London Tower for uttering 
revolutionary sentiments., but afterward, as a 
measure of conciliation^ were pardoned out. But 
the clemency of the government only emboldened 
the agitators. 

Robert Colgate's name headed a list of seven 
who were to be summarily dealt with as traitors. 
The friendship of a distinguished statesmen res- 
cued him and determined the destiny of his fam- 
ily. William Pitt was his schoolmate, and doubt- 
less received the inspiration of his liberal spirit 
and policy toward the American Colonies from 
the same source. When, therefore, his early and 
lifelong friend was menaced, " the Great Com- 



58 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

moner - 1 sent a private messenger from London to 
warn him of his peril, advise his escape, and 
assure him that he would delay arrest upon his 
pledge to leave the country within four weeks. 
The messenger arrived late at night, and passed 
the hours till morning discussing with Mr. Colgate 
his message and the time and plan for his leaving 
the country. He bore back to London the prom- 
ise that in two weeks the liberty-loving citizen 
would embark for America. The family were 
stricken with sorrow at this enforced exile from 
home and native land. They tearfully conducted 
the hurried preparation. Such is the cost of liberty. 
By base compliance that father could have reared 
his family in his dear native land and been buried 
in peace with his fathers. The report of this exile 
of a most honored and loved citizen stirred the 
heart of the whole community in sympathy and 
indignation. After the family had been sent on, 
the persecuted man shut the door upon himself 
and turned his back upon his cherished home. 
Thousands of people from village and surrounding 
country escorted him on his way with affectionate 
benedictions and tearful adieus. At length the 
hero of this scene, worthy of a poet or a painter, 
was so overcome by these tributes that, pulling his 
cap over his eyes and putting spurs to his horse, 



I 



ANCESTRY. 50 

lie galloped out of the thronging crowd, away from 
his long-blessed home, and led his wife and little 
ones toward the sea and the New World. For 
miles his road was lined by farmers and their fam- 
ilies, who strewed his path with flowers and fol- 
lowed him with lamentations. 

In March, 1795, the emigrants sailed for Balti- 
more, and after a voyage of sixty days set their 
feet on the shore of the Western Hemisphere. 
Three of Mr. Colgate's compatriots w r ere arrested 
and imprisoned for condemning those political 
wrongs which were afterward redressed by the 
Eeform Bill of 1832. 

Mr. Colgate purchased a farm for his large fam- 
ily in Harford County, Maryland, where they lived 
several years. But through fraudulent titles he 
lost his property. William, then only seventeen 
years old, through encouragement of creditors, en- 
tered into the disorganized business, paid off his 
father's debts, and supported the large family out 
of the proceeds of his industry. Soon after re- 
moving to New York he purchased a farm for his 
father in Delaware County, where he peacefully 
ended his days. Robert Colgate's father had been 
a principal supporter, and one of the plurality of 
elders, of a Baptist church, whose unpretending 
place of worship continued for more than a cen- 



60 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

tury under tlie very shadow of the state church, 
proclaiming religious liberty against the oppres- 
sions of a corrupt hierarchy. 

Robert had followed his father's faith and pos- 
sessed his father's gifts, and became a distinguished 
champion of religious as well as civil liberty. With 
some other Baptists at this period, making sharp 
issue with birthright membership, hireling priest- 
hood, and scholastic theology, lie became an Arian, 
following the interpretations of the maligned and 
martyred Servetus. But after coming to this coun- 
try, and tracing the affinities and observing the tes- 
timonies of orthodoxy, and, in more favorable cir- 
cumstances, re-reading the New Testament, Robert 
Colgate joined a regular Baptist church, and in 
Delaware County became a helper and teacher in 
the church. 

Retaining his English partiality for horseback 
riding, on a beautiful Lord's Day morning he was 
mounting before the door of his house, in order to 
ride to church, when he fell dead to the ground 
with heart disease. The blowing of a horn spread 
the intelligence of the sudden and great bereave- 
ment of the family, church, and community, and 
the people hastened together from the surrounding 
country, and gazed tearfully for the last time upon 
a beloved brother, a trusted friend, an incorrupt- 



ANCESTRY. 01 

ible citizen, a Christian without guile. William's 
mother and two sisters ended exemplary Christian 
lives in New York, honored by the church. John, 
George, Bowles, and Charles, following their enter- 
prising senior brother to New York, also attained 
commercial distinction, and, all but one, official 
distinction in the church. 



II. 

BUSINESS CAREER. 



II. 

BUSINESS CAREER. 

" Seest thou a man diligent in business : he shall stand before 
princes ; he shall not stand before mean men." 

William Colgate attended one of the best 
schools in Baltimore for the first two years of his 
life in America. This training, added to the dis- 
cipline of his boyhood in England, completed his 
school education. At the age of fifteen he entered 
upon the earnest work of life. At seventeen he 
in a humble way, with scarcely any capital or 
credit, engaged in the soap-and-candle business in 
Baltimore. At that time manufacturers were 
greatly needed in all the growing cities of the 
New World. 

By a kind of instinct of great possibilities, and 
the inspiration of great purposes, and perhaps to 
escape embarrassing associations with the business 
misfortunes of the family in Baltimore, young 
Colgate decided to make the metropolis of the 

6* E 65 



66 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

country his home and place of business. In 1804, 
at the age of eighteen, he came, first to Mamaro- 
neck, and, after a brief sojourn there, to New York 
City, and there began, with neither money, credit, 
nor friends, his illustrious business career. 

The secret of his success is disclosed in the prin- 
ciples which governed him. He determined first 
to master in all its methods and appliances the 
business he had chosen. 

Almost immediately upon his arrival in New 
York, early one morning he applied at the count- 
ing-room of John Slidel & Co., then the largest 
tallow-chandlers in the city, located at 50 Broad- 
way. There was no vacancy in the establishment, 
but Mr. Slidel, struck with the open, honest face 
of the applicant, offered him a place as assistant 
clerk. 

The young Englishman thanked him for his 
kind proposal, but most respectfully declined it, 
remarking, " I desire, sir, to learn the business. I 
wish to work to earn a living for myself. Any 
one can assist a clerk, but I wish to know how 
to work." 

There is the secret of success in the great com- 
petitions of business, for the skilled workman nat- 
urally acquires control. In old-established houses 
on both sides of the sea it is more and more felt 



BUSINESS CAREER. 07 

that only through the discipline of the apprentice 
and the skilled journeyman can one safely assume 
the direction of a great manufacturing or commer- 
cial house. Capital without skill can never keep 
pace with capital supplemented by skill. For lack 
of this combination hundreds of adventurous bus- 
iness-houses have failed. 

Mr. Slidel was so much pleased with the frank- 
ness of young Colgate, and his ambition to master 
a business, that he called his foreman and said, 
" Give this young man work; show him every- 
thing about the business. He will be of great 
service to you." 

The salary proposed was small, but it was the 
business he sought, and in a short time he became 
an expert in it. He was transferred from the man- 
ufacturing to the sales department, and soon grasped 
its commercial methods, so that at the end of three 
years, when the firm was changed, William Col- 
gate became its principal business-manager. In 
1806, at the age of twenty -three, he started in the 
chandlery business in Dutch Street, on the site still 
occupied in the same business by Colgate & Co. 

Another principle assuring the success of Mr. 
Colgate was subserviency to his business. He 
did not feel above any of its toil or drudgery. 
He shrank not from the requirement of early or 



68 WILLI A M COLGA TR 

late hours at his store. He never betrayed im- 
patience at the ignorance, caprice, or unreason- 
ableness of customers. This secret of his early 
success he, on one occasion, described in an ad- 
dress to the students at Hamilton. He frankly 
told them of his humble beginning, the enforced 
frugality and economy of his early home. The 
day his store was opened he waited anxiously for 
his first customer. Toward noon a gentleman 
entered, looked curiously around, examined his 
soap, and finally purchased a two-pound bar. 

This first sale in his own name in the business 
adventure of his life was a memorable trans- 
action. He inquired of the customer where he 
would have it delivered. The gentleman, smiling, 
said he lived quite up town, and it would doubt- 
less be inconvenient for him to make the delivery. 
But the enthusiastic young merchant insisted on 
having his address, and assured him of the prompt 
delivery of the parcel that afternoon. As the 
merchant was his own bookkeeper, clerk, and 
porter, he closed his store an hour earlier than he 
intended, in order to fulfil his contract. The de- 
livery of the goods, likely, " may have cost me 
double my profit on that first sale, but, young 
gentlemen, I won a good customer, and I have 
kept him ever since." 



BUSINESS CAREER. &J 

This winning and retaining customers by proper 
attention is an important secret of the success of 
great business-houses. Those feeling above such 
subserviency must surrender their profits, prestige, 
and power, sooner or later, to more enterprising 
firms. 

Another rule observed in Mr. Colgate's business 
was special wariness in all purchases and invest- 
ments. Though having good reason to trust his 
own judgment in regard to the state of the market 
or the values of property, yet in the modesty of 
all true wisdom he never failed in any important 
transaction to obtain the opinion of trusted friends. 
He said, " If my judgment is right, my friend will 
confirm it ; if I have erred in consequence of over- 
looking any element in the case, he may point out 
to me my error." How many through lack of 
this caution have been financially wrecked! All 
young business-men should follow this wise and 
safe example. Impatience of the suggestions of 
experience is an augury of failure. Counsel not 
only gains wisdom, but also wins sympathy and 
friendship. 

Another rule of business, germane to the last 
mentioned, was to avoid litigation. If any sought 
advantage in trade, mediation of friends or arbi- 
tration of business acquaintance was proposed, and 



70 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

if he employed an attorney at all, it was to pre- 
vent, rather than to conduct, litigation. Lawsuits 
to settle business claims seldom contribute much 
to the ends of justice, while they impair business 
credit, friendship, and public confidence. By in- 
domitable energy and the observance of such 
principles of business, Mr. Colgate at the age of 
twenty-eight had become worth five thousand 
dollars. 

His subsequent career was one of uninterrupted 
prosperity. During the war of 1812-15 his estab- 
lishment had almost undisputed control of the mar- 
ket, and the rise in the value of stock on hand great- 
ly increased his wealth. About this period he com- 
menced the manufacture of starch, and soon devel- 
oped one of the largest factories for this staple in 
the country. 

Not disposed to extend this in connection with 
the constant enlargement of his original business, 
the foreman and partner of this manufacture 
opened independently the starch business, first in 
Jersey City, and then in another city nearer the 
great corn-fields of the country, and gained a rep- 
utation as the largest starch -manufacturers in 
America. 

Seldom has any business firm retained so fully 
and for so long a time the sympathy of their em- 



BUSINESS CAREER, 71 

ployees, the esteem of their customers, or the re- 
spect and confidence of the public. Mr. Colgate's 
civic virtues did not lack recognition. Commer- 
cial and political trusts were refused as obstruct- 
ing his greater Christian work. For several years, 
however, he was persuaded to serve as treasurer 
of the Fire Department of 'New York. Though 
known to eschew politics, at the time of a popular 
uprising against a corrupt administration the lead- 
ers of the reform movement pressed upon him the 
nomination for mayor, but, consistently with his life- 
long purpose, he declined the honor. After meet- 
ing the claims of business and of the church, he 
felt that conscientious suffrage and prayer for his 
country fulfilled his duties to the state. His suc- 
cessors, emulating his industry, probity, and saga- 
city, are perpetuating the name and honor of Wil- 
liam Colgate by continuing and enlarging, in the 
same locality, the business he founded three-quar- 
ters of a century ago. 



III. 

DOMESTIC LIFE. 



III. 

DOMESTIC LIFE, 

" Domestic happiness, thou only bliss of Paradise that has sur- 
vived the Fall ! " 

"Our domestic behavior is the main test of our virtue and 
good-nature." 

William Colgate was married in 1811 to Mary 
Gilbert, a lady of English descent. Miss Gilbert 
possessed rare endowments of mind and heart, and 
a superior education. Her skill with pencil and 
brush challenged the admiration of artists. Her 
domestic virtues cheered, as with light and song, 
the home of which she became mistress. Her re- 
ligious convictions and profession were in strict ac- 
cord with her husband's, and she had reached them 
through a similar trial and the surrender of world- 
ly advantages. Awakened to religious thoughtful- 
ness through attendance upon Dr. Maclay's church 
in Mulberry Street, she earnestly sought the truth, 
and, against the protest of her father's family, 
joined the Baptists. All but the tender-hearted 

75 



76 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

father refused even to see her baptized, but, through 
the intelligent defence of her course and her silent 
example, the brothers, who at first reproached, sub- 
sequently followed her. 

Though brought up in freedom and in compara- 
tive luxury, from the spacious rooms and full ser- 
vice of her father's house she came unserved to 
the narrow appointments provided by her young 
husband. 

The momentary depression felt as she first looked 
through the unattractive apartments yielded to a 
kindling enthusiasm of delight as with her own 
hand she cleaned the rooms and arranged the sim- 
ple furniture. 

In the progress of years there were born to them 
five sons and two daughters, of whom only three 
sons remain. The regime of the family was con- 
formed to that of the English home. Britain has 
become the greatest of modern empires through 
the discipline of her homes. The decline of fam- 
ily honor is the precursor of social and national 
decay. 

The duty of industry was enforced upon all 
the members of this growing household. If ever 
weariness was complained of, the father would 
remark quietly, " Every person needs physical 
fatigue every day to ensure the luxury of rest and 



DOMESTIC LIFE. 77 

the vigor of health." Frugality in individual and 
family expenditures was practised. Only as in- 
creasing profits of business warranted were ampler 
rooms rented, more attractive furniture supplied, 
and costlier table spread. Each stage of progress 
ministered new pleasures to all, and the first small 
gains were more appreciated than the largest ac- 
quisitions in later years. Those beginning with 
luxuries which parents have acquired through 
long years of toil and frugality never enjoy the 
happiness of progress. 

In the house in John Street, in Chambers Street, 
and again in Madison Square, where William Col- 
gate died, there was full provision for the comfort 
of numerous relatives and guests, but no osten- 
tation of wealth. While families with less occa- 
sion and less ability displayed their liveries, for 
many years Mr. Colgate kept no carriage. He 
was unwilling by example to encourage an ex- 
travagance which often reduces the charities, and 
sometimes ruins the fortunes, of families. Besides, 
he despised the effeminacy which resorts to pri- 
vate and public conveyances when a brisk walk 
is needed to quicken the pulse, give elasticity to 
the step, and assure a robust and joyous health. 

From his home-circle were scrupulously banish- 
ed idle gossip and uncharitable criticisms. Some- 

7* 



78 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

thing innocent, entertaining, and instructive was 
introduced in conversation around the table and 
the fire. Affairs of business, politics, and gen- 
eral news always supplied topics of agreeable and 
profitable discussion. Any lowering of the tone 
of conversation was arrested by a pleasant sugges- 
tion or a mild rebuke. He would remark, " If we 
can say nothing good of our neighbors, let us not 
say anything evil. 1 ' 

The earnest protest of that wise and charitable 
father, echoed in the following lines, should be 
repeated in all homes and social circles till the 
tattler is banished from the world : 

" ' They say !' Oh, well, suppose they do, 
But can they prove the story true ? 
Why count yourself among the ' They ' 
Who whisper what they dare not say ? 
Suspicion may arise from naught 
But malice, envy, want of thought. 

" ' They say !' But why the tale rehearse, 
And help to make the matter worse ? 
No good can possibly accrue 
From what may yet be proved untrue ; 
And is it not a noble plan 
To speak of all the best you can ? 

" ' They say I' Well, if it should be so, 
Why need you tell the tale of woe ? 
Will it the better wrong redress, 
Or make one pang of sorrow less ? 



DOMESTIC LIFE. 79 

Will it the erring one restore 
Thenceforth to ' go and sin no more ' ? 

11 ' They say !' Oh pause and look within ; 
See how thine heart inclines to sin ; 
And, lest in dark temptation's hour 
Thou too shouldst sink beneath its power, 
Pity the frail, weep o'er their fall, 
But speak of good, or not at all." 

This deep charitableness so affected the. tenor of 
his communications that he was impatient of all 
raillery or denunciation, even against bad men. 
He recalled the example of Michael the arch- 
angel, hurling no railing accusation, even against 
Satan. He once spoke in terms of marked disap- 
probation of a sermon against the Devil, because 
it dealt in exaggerated invectives, and he declared 
that no creature of God, especially one ranking in 
intellectual attributes above man and nearest to 
God, should be so reviled. Such Christian spirit 
through all homes would dissipate the gloom of 
envy and strife now clouding the sunshine of life, 
and inaugurate a reign of peace over the earth. 

With the decorum and painstaking observance 
of family order was blended an easy familiarity 
that imparted a sense of freedom to all. Sunny 
temper, genial mirthfulness, and felicitous observa- 
tion, replete with good sense and often sparkling 
with wit, made a contented and joyful home. 



80 WILLIAM COLGATE, 

From the first, Mrs. Colgate was the worthy mis- 
tress of this happy home. She personally admin- 
istered its extraordinary hospitality, so gratefully 
remembered by favored guests. She encouraged 
the family worship, so hallowed in the experience 
of the household. She scrupulously observed the 
Lord's Day and honored the house of prayer. She 
was associated with a few ladies in forming a fe- 
male Sunday-school society, one of the germs of 
the American Sunday-school Union. She was 
foremost in conducting a female education society 
in New York for promoting ministerial education 
at Hamilton. She gathered funds, endowed schol- 
arships, and furnished rooms for students. 

The firmness shown in following her convictions 
in Christian profession was conspicuously mani- 
fested in taking a stand against the usual custom 
of furnishing wine to guests. One day her hus- 
band reported the painful intelligence that two 
well-known ministers had fallen by the cup. Af- 
ter a pause of deep reflection, with emphatic voice 
and gesture she declared that she would never 
again offer intoxicating drinks to her guests. Her 
resolution was soon tried. 

A large company of ministers were her guests, 
one of whom, an aged man, asked for spirits. She 
brought it, gave him what he wanted, but put it 



DOMESTIC LIFE. 81 

away without offering it to the rest. Her face 
crimsoned as she left the room. The guests were 
embarrassed, but her firmness triumphed. 

Through a long period, Baptist missionaries em- 
barking for distant fields or returning to visit their 
native land, distinguished Baptist preachers and 
laymen visiting New York from different parts of 
the country, often enjoyed his hospitality. 

"At a later period," writes Professor H. Harvey, 
11 it was my privilege, while an invalid, to be a guest 
for several months in his family at the old John 
Street mansion, the delightful home so familiar and 
dear to many of our older missionaries and minis- 
ters, who were always welcomed there w T ith such 
genial and large hospitality. The sunny atmo- 
sphere which pervaded the household seemed to 
diffuse itself from the head through all the mem- 
bers of it, and had the peculiar charm of putting 
the guest at once at his ease and making him at 
home. 

" Mr. Colgate was an admirable conversational- 
ist, having, from his extensive reading and obser- 
vation, and his knowledge of men, great wealth 
of information. He was quick and active in rep- 
artee, not seldom enlivening his discourse with 
sallies of wit and with mirth-provoking incidents, 
while never losing the dignity and courtesy of the 



82 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Christian gentleman. To me, then an invalid and 
suffering from mental depression, his cheerful pres- 
ence and the quickening atmosphere of that home 
were a perpetual tonic and inspiration ; and as 
memory now recalls the scene, and depicts afresh 
the faces of the circle then wont to gather at his 
table — the venerable father and mother, the sisters 
Sarah and Mary, the youngest son Joseph, all now 
gathered in the home above, and others who are 
still here — that genuine Christian home lives before 
me as one of the sunniest and most blessed spots 
associated with my earlier life. 

1 ' Of one of that circle I may speak particularly, 
because her life was so influential in the life and 
usefulness of Deacon Colgate. Sarah Colgate, his 
eldest daughter, was a woman of marked character. 
Although from childhood a cripple, able to move 
only in her wheeled chair, such was her energy 
and executive ability that in the feeble health of 
Mrs. Colgate she assumed the entire management 
of the large household and became the practical 
centre of its life. With a judgment singularly 
clear and practical, sympathies broad and gen- 
erous, she was a sincere and unselfish Christian, 
quietly exerting a wide and beneficent influence, 
not only on the immediate family circle at home, 
but far beyond on the still wider circle of those at 



DOMESTIC LIFE. 83 

home and abroad for whom her heart had become 
enlisted/' 

"My personal acquaintance with Mr. Colgate," 
says Dr. Edward Lathrop, " reaches back to the 
year 1836 or 1837, when, as a student of what 
was then the Hamilton Literary and Theological 
Institution, I learned to revere and love him, as 
in his genial and kindly way he would take the 
students by the hand or speak to them, as they 
gathered in the chapel, words of advice and en- 
couragement. It was not, however, till the year 
1844 — at which time I undertook the pastoral 
care of the Tabernacle Church — that I came to 
know intimately and to appreciate in some just 
measure the many excellences of our revered 
friend. I was an inmate of his family for months 
in succession, and at different times during my 
connection with the church ; and in all these 
seasons of close personal intercourse I can truth- 
fully say that on no occasion did I ever observe 
in Deacon Colgate the absence in the slightest 
degree of a respectful consideration, a tender re- 
gard, and an unaffected courtesy toward every 
member of his household, not excepting the hum- 
blest servant. 

11 He was emphatically a kind-hearted man and 
a gentleman. His door was always open to the 



84 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

worthy stranger, and to friends, especially to min- 
isterial friends, when on visits of business or 
recreation to the city. His hearty manner, his 
cheerfulness, and above all his wealth of Christian 
sympathy, made him the centre of attraction to 
all, as well the young as the more aged, whose 
happiness it was to dwell under his roof. 

11 He was well mated also, for in his most 
estimable wife he found a companion who fully 
sympathized with him in the ministration of his 
generous hospitality, as she did indeed in all his 
benevolent schemes." 

Such a home is the sweetest boon left to hu- 
manity, wearied with the toils and harassed by 
the cares of life. It is the balm of aching hearts, 
the refuge of tempted souls, the counsellor of the 
perplexed, the stronghold of virtue, the training- 
school of the state, and often the nursery of the 
church and the gateway to heaven. 



IV. 
CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 



IV. 

CHRISTIAN PROFESSION, 

" Without religion the highest endowments of intellect can only 
render the possessor more dangerous if ill disposed — if well dis- 
posed, only more unhappy." 

" What constitutes a church ? Not hierarchy or throned priest, 
The stolen trappings of the Eomish beast ; 
These mock the search when all is said ; 
Seek not the living church among the dead." 

Exteknal trials led William Colgate to relig- 
ious experience. Misfortunes attending the exile 
of his father's family from their native land and 
the loss of the remnant of their estate developed 
a vigorous and heroic manhood. Force was tem- 
pered by fine sensibilities, and humor found ex- 
pression in cheerful industry. 

While engaged in the enterprise to relieve his 
father's family from financial embarrassment, he 
was not free from vindictive feeling toward those 
who had impoverished them. 

After coming to New York he was laid upon a 
bed of sickness, and in the near prospect of death 

87 



88 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

the sinfulness of his unforgiving temper was more 
fully disclosed to him. He saw that he could not 
expect forgiveness from God while he denied it to 
men. Through discovery of the inveteracy of his 
sinful feeling, he came at length to the conviction 
of a sinful nature. He despaired of entering the 
kingdom of heaven without a radical change of 
heart ; and that he now importunately sought and 
believingly obtained. 

This spiritual change, whether described as re- 
pentance, conversion, or new birth, is needed by 
all. Only those conscious of sin seek a Saviour. 
Every pilgrim to the celestial city is startled by 
thundering Sinai before he gazes upon the cross 
rising over Calvary with peace and hope. 

A prayer is found among his papers breathing 
the spirit of consecration to duty and God which 
characterized his subsequent life : 

14 God and Father of mercy, who hatest nothing 
that thou hast made, who seest all our miseries and 
knowest all our infirmities, I prostrate myself at 
thy throne, beseeching thee to hear my prayer and 
to receive the petitions which I now offer unto thee. 

11 1 put myself in humble adoration before thee, 
ardently desirous of knowing thy will, and earn- 
estly supplicating the assistance of thy bountiful 
grace, that I may be enabled to fulfil it. To this 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 89 

end, correct and subdue in me all inordinate desires 
and unholy attachments ; impress thy law on my 
soul, that it may establish my principles and influ- 
ence my behavior, that both the thoughts of my 
heart and tenor of my life may be such as become 
a Christian. 

" Let no associations withdraw me from entering 
daily into myself, that I may become more and 
more acquainted with my own heart, that its ap- 
probation may be my greatest comfort and its re- 
proaches my greatest dread. 

" Engrave upon my mind a sense of the charac- 
ter I should maintain. Guard me against levity 
of behavior, against sudden passion and violent 
transports, against bewitching pleasures, contempt- 
ible meanness, detestable avarice, and unlawful 
gain. Let no deviation from piety be encouraged 
by my demeanor. Let not my soul sanction its 
indiscretions or extenuate its vices by pleading the 
license of any one's unworthiness. 

" As a Christian grant me a uniform and reg- 
ular diligence, which may neither be overcome by 
indolence nor enfeebled by relaxation. Let no 
indulgence in amusements however innocent, nor 
attachment to studies however enticing, seduce 
me from an invariable application to my several 
duties. But may every pursuit be regulated by 



90 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

prudence and restrained by severity. Warn me 
against the baits of temptation and the allure- 
ments of sin." ■ 

There are found among private papers other 
comprehensive and impressive prayers, especially 
one for ministers, worthy to be repeated at every 
ordination to the Christian ministry, as also sug- 
gestions of answers to the question, " How to live 
on earth so as to live in heaven?" offering a rule 
of life to one accustomed to self-examination. 
They that believe are described as having Christ 
in their hearts, heaven in their eye, and this 
world under their feet. "God's Spirit is their 
guide ; God's fear is their guard ; God's people, 
their companions ; God's promises are their cor- 
dials ; holiness is their way, and heaven their 
home." They that love Christ are described as 
those who "love to think of him; thev love to 
hear of him ; they love to speak for him ; they 
love the presence of Christ ; they love the yoke 
of Christ ; they love the ministers of Christ ; they 
love the name of Christ ; they hate sin ; they are 
pleased when Christ is pleased, and grieved when 
he is grieved; Christ's will is their will, his dis- 
honor is their affliction ; his cause is their care ; 
his ministers, their stars ; his saints, their delight ; 
his word, their oracle ; his glory, their end." 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 01 

Some of the signs of true grace are named by him : 

11 1. When self-loving is turned into self-loath- 
ing, self-excusing into self-condemning, self-ad- 
miring into self-abhorring, self-seeking into self- 
denying. 

" 2. Tis a sign of true grace when a person 
seriously complains of the want of grace. A 
graceless person cannot truly complain that he 
has no grace ; there is grace in that complaint. 

"3. When the heart is tender and feels the 
power of an ordinance. 

"4. When the soul hath an appetite for the 
word. 

" 5. When a man makes conscience of secret 
prayer. 

" 6. When we are taken with their conver- 
sation and manner of life who are most spiritual. 

" 7. When we are willing to be acquainted 
with Christ, and reconciled with God upon any 
terms. 

11 8. When a person approves of all Christian 
duties. 

" 9. When he desires more grace than is given, 
as there is sin in the desire of sin." 

Religious profession is the necessary outgrowth 
of religious experience. Religion can no more be 
fruitful while latent in unexpressed convictions 



92 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

than a seed can produce fruit or flower without 
lifting itself through' the ground into the light. 
With the heart there is belief unto righteous im- 
pulse and aspiration. But this experience is not 
authenticated in salvation without open confession 
and profession. Devotion to some accepted stand- 
ard of duty and discipline is therefore the most 
sacred and inevitable duty of all. One disclaim- 
ing such obligations is ever exposing himself to 
the guilt and peril of sin. 

Christ prescribed one and the same form of 
religious profession for his disciples of every land 
and age. He appointed a ritual designed to 
supersede the ceremonial of Judaism and Pagan- 
ism alike. To vary from the order of his church 
is antichristian and introduces the reign of sects. 

In making a Christian profession, therefore, one 
may not consult merely local convenience, social 
affinities, or attractions of pulpit, but primarily 
and earnestly he should study the New Testament, 
in order to ascertain what are the ordinances and 
order of Christ's church. 

William Colgate tells in his own artless words 
the story of his inquiry, perplexity, and trials in 
making a public Christian profession : 

11 When I commenced business I attended the 
preaching of Dr. John M. Mason, toward whom 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 93 

and his church I felt a great attachment. There 
my benevolent Aunt Boorman, mother of the late 
James Boorman, and family belonged, to whom I 
was under so many obligations financially and 
otherwise. There were also a number of wealthy 
and respectable merchants, who seemed cordially 
to salute me, and many civilities I received from 
them, especially in the way of business. I had 
just commenced business, and by their influence 
and kindness I could but expect my prosperity to 
be furthered. Like young expectants generally, I 
could but calculate that success in my business 
would be advanced by business-men of wealth, 
and who had given me orders for goods to mani- 
fest their good interest toward a young beginner 
who was attending their church. 
• " To unite with this church, there appeared 
every inducement, and at this determination my 
sister and I arrived without a thought of looking 
further, as we thought we had both experienced 
the new birth." 

But before proceeding in so grave a matter they 
wrote to their parents asking their consent and 
blessing in the step they had resolved upon : 

11 It is with pain we reflect on the difference of 
religious opinions between us, but we have the 
heartfelt consolation of knowing that these opinions 



94 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

have been carefully and conscientiously formed. 
If we should be in error, we have and do, as we 
hope you will in our behalf, pray to our Heavenly 
Father to set us aright, 

" The differences referred to respect the prin- 
cipal articles of Calvinism. 

" We believe in the Trinity, and think that the 
first chapter of John and many other parts of 
Scripture justify us in that belief. 

"We believe that Christ is the Mediator be- 
tween God and man. 1 Tim. ii. 5 ; Gal. iv. 5. 

11 We believe in predestination and justification. 
Rom. viii. 30. We believe by faith we shall be 
saved. Acts xvi. 31. 

11 We believe in the perseverance of the saints. 
Phil. i. 6; John x. 28, 29; Heb. x. 14; Eph. 
iv. 30. 

" If we had consulted our own sinful inclina- 
tions, or had had all our desires of earthly pros- 
perity and happiness satisfied, in all human prob- 
ability we should have been yet in our sins, far 
removed from grace. Neither would the pride of 
our hearts have been so humbled as to disclaim 
all merits in the case had not our dear Lord — to 
whom we give all the glory — given us a new 
heart and put a new spirit within us. 

" Having now stated to you our case and belief, 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 95 

as having a full confidence from your known 
liberality that the difference of opinion may cause 
regret, but cannot lessen your love, or cause you 
after a dispassionate view of the case to give any 
other advice than such as from circumstances you 
may be induced to think will be most conducive 
to our present good and future happiness, — 

" 1. Can you see any reason why we cannot as 
Christians cherish the belief above stated? If 
you think we cannot, we would thank you to 
point out what part, and why you think it excep- 
tionable. 

11 2. As we have heard for some time past the 
preaching of Dr. Mason, and think it is scriptural 
and consistent preaching of Christ and him circu- 
fied, and believe the doctrines of the Associate 
Reformed Church to be in accord with the word 
of God, do you think we can consistently join it? 

".•If you think we cannot, we hope you will 
inform us why ; as also what church, in your 
opinion, would be better calculated to lead us 
through this world of trials in the path which 
leads to Christ and life everlasting;. 

"As we have long delayed to prepare ourselves 
for eternity, we hope you will have the goodness 
to answer these questions as soon as your conve- 
nience will permit. As we know not the day or 



^> WILLIAM COLGATE. 

hour in which Christ will call on us, we are 
anxious to be prepared. 

1 ' We pray that the Lord may be present with 
you, and comfort and bless you all." 

This letter was signed by Mr. Colgate and his 
sister Maria, and sent to their parents. 

" We received a quick reply, written with much 
affection and every expression of joy that we in- 
tended to join a Christian church : 

" ' Probably I have now by your application the 
most important task to engage in that occurs 
during a parent's pilgrimage through life. The 
seriousness of your minds, a sense of your duty 
toward God, and the desire you manifest to live 
in the practice of piety, are truly gratifying to your 
mother and me. . . . What I have communicated 
to you on the subject of religion has been with 
care not to influence your mind with bigotry, . . . 
but to lead you to search diligently and judge im- 
partially. . . . Our prayers to our Heavenly Father 
through a crucified Saviour will, I trust, be united- 
ly offered up that you may clearly see by the true 
light that lighteth every sincere Christian in the 
way to life eternal. 

" ' You say you are happy in agreeing with us 
respecting the "mode of baptism." Can you prac- 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 97 

tise any other mode conscientiously, and thereby 
sanction the inventions of men to your friends, 
your children, and the rising generation? 

" ' The next step will be to sprinkle your infants, 
and promise what neither precept nor example jus- 
tifies. . . . 

" 'Take great care that your motive in joining 
any society is not of an unworthy nature, in order 
to form worldly connections that may appear de- 
sirable, especially if anything is required of you 
to perform, or even sanction, that is not authorized 
by the Scriptures/ 

" In a postscript to this letter was added : 

11 ' We should have been pleased if you had also 
given us a Thus saith the Lord for infant sprink- 
ling.' 

"On the receipt of this letter I went immedi- 
ately to see my sister. On leaving her again, I 
observed that I would go home and give to my 
parents the Scripture for infant baptism, and we 
could receive their reply in time to unite with the 
church at the next communion. My sister has 
since informed me that as soon as my back was 
turned, Mrs. Isabella Graham (whom I left in the 
parlor with my sister) held up her hands and ex- 
claimed, ' Poor young man ! poor young man ! he 
knows not what he has undertaken/ 



98 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

" Several evenings I searched the Scriptures dili- 
gently with the references of the Larger and Shorter 
Catechisms, but without success in finding the Scrip- 
ture sought for. 

" I then went to see my sister to inform her of 
my want of success, and she observed that on her 
part search had been made without success also. 

" While we were conversing Mrs. Graham came 
in and sat by us, and on learning our position she 
observed that there were in theology doctrines which 
were not easily understood, and that I ought to see 
Dr. Mason, and she would inform him that on 
Thursday evening I would call on him. 

11 This I did, and was treated with all attention 
and kindness in a conversation lasting late into 
the night. He used such arguments at length to 
satisfy me as are usual with ministers with his 
sentiments, and recommended quite a list of au- 
thors who had treated on the subject. This list I 
procured and read, but before I had completed this 
reading Mrs. Graham had informed Mrs. Byron, 
the only Baptist whom I knew in the city, that I 
was examining this subject, and she sent me 
Booth's JPedobaptism Examined. 

" By this I was soon convinced of the fallacy of 
the opposite writers, and, my sister agreeing with 
me in opinion, we thought of resorting to the ex- 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 99 

pediency of being baptized by Mr. Williams, a Bap- 
tist minister, the father of Dr. W. R. Williams, 
and after that uniting with Dr. Mason's church. 

"I accordingly called upon Mr. Williams and 
made known our desire to be baptized. Approv- 
ing our religious experience and doctrines, he in- 
vited us to appear before the church. I demurred, 
saying our wish was to be baptized, not to join his 
church. He said that course would be disorderly. 
I urged that he was authorized to baptize believ- 
ers, and we were believers. He replied again, 
1 If I am commanded to baptize, you are com- 
manded to walk orderly, and not discredit the 
baptism you observe/ and advised me to converse 
further with Dr. Mason. 

" After much reflection we came to the con- 
clusion that in order to follow the directions of 
our Lord, we must be Baptists, Yet to do so, in 
our estimation then, we should have to leave good 
preaching for poor ; in place of uniting with a re- 
spectable people, we should unite with one account- 
ed by the world as ignorant and low in life. We 
must thus sacrifice connections which promised 
happiness and a good prospect for aiding us in 
life; and thus, reviewing fully our duty and our 
situation, we came to the hard conclusion that 
duty we must do. 



100 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

11 The Lord was able to make up to us the rest. 
We decided to apply for admittance into the Gold 
Street Baptist Church, Rev. William Parkinson 
pastor. I had never yet heard a Baptist preach 
in New York. We made application, however, 
and were received and baptized in February, 
1808." 

Is not this record of earnest appeal to the word 
of God as the standard of religious doctrine and 
practice, this loyalty to personal convictions against 
the appeals of popular error, and at the sacrifice 
of worldly advantages and friendships, worthy to 
be compared with Abraham's obedience? 

Devotion to ancestral faith is better than casual 
religious profession without feeling amenable to 
any divine standard of faith. But devotion to 
Christ should be the all-inspiring passion in Chris- 
tian profession. For his worship and glory all 
sacred traditions, and even the examples and com- 
mands of parents, should be abjured. 

William Colgate forsook all worldly authority 
and interests to follow Christ. As he received 
the Lord Jesus, he continued to walk in him, root- 
ed, grounded, and built up in him to the last. 
One of his farewell counsels was a warning to his 
children against the proselytism of error and the 
seductive influences of worldly prosperity : 



CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 101 

11 My son, you want too much intellect in the 
sermons you hear. But that is not the kind that 
God has blessed since the days of the apostles. 
Plain Bible-preaching has been blessed before all 
learned discourse. You must take hold, and not 
wait for things to come to your taste, in these 
matters, and stick to the Baptists. 

" Don't go running off after fine things. Since 
the days of Nebuchadnezzar — that crafty politi- 
cian who virtually united church and state — those 
who ought to know better have been keeping things 
so, and the abominations of church and state and 
infant sprinkling are the corner-stone of the whole 
structure now falling to pieces. " 

A striking testimony to his religious convictions 
is given in a touching scene at the close of his 
life. James Boorman, at that time one of the 
most distinguished merchants of New York, his 
cousin and most intimate friend, called for a last 
interview. Like Job and his friends, they were 
overcome with grief, and wept for some moments 
in silent embrace. At length Mr. Boorman, allud- 
ing doubtless to his own lack of courage and de- 
cision at one time to carry out convictions he had 
confessed, in contrast with his noble cousin's long- 
continued sacrifices for his faith, said, " Well, Wil- 
liam, you have been honest in religion, and now 
9* 



102 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

you have sons to maintain your faith when you 
are gone. But / have no sons to perpetuate and 
honor my beliefs when I go." The strength and 
glory of manhood are crowned by loyalty to con- 
science and Christ. 



V. 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 



V. 

CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 

"In whom ye are builded a habitation of God through the 
Spirit." 

The order of Christ's church may be as essen- 
tial to the highest spiritual culture as the family 
to perfected domestic discipline. Polygamy may 
no more obstruct social confidence and culture 
than hierarchy local Christian fellowship and dis- 
cipline. The independent local church, through 
moral and sympathizing companionship, opens a 
refuge from temptation and sorrow ; through con- 
stitutional barriers against encroachments of relig- 
ious despotism, establishes a stronghold of free- 
dom ; and through elevation of standard of duty, 
constitutes the most effective school for spiritual 
culture and discipline in the world. 

Enforced as a primary and universal order of so- 
ciety, the church, would supersede the caste which 
obstructs the regeneration of India, the concordats 
that repress freedom and foster superstition in 

105 



106 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Spain, and the political administration of religion 
that provokes dissent, diffuses scepticism, and dis- 
courages piety in Italy, France, Germany, and 
England. It would crystallize the turbid ecclesi- 
asticism of Christendom into a uniform and re- 
splendent order. 

As this church order is the only spiritual juris- 
diction authorized in the New Testament, the 
only external kingdom of Christ on earth, any 
wider alliance, interfering with its independence, 
usurping its discipline, obstructing its evangelism 
or missionary enterprise, or in any manner impair- 
ing its sense of direct amenability to t}ie supreme 
Lordship of Christ, is in so far antiehristian. 

In the smallest Christian assembly, in some 
humble chapel on the remote frontier, how sub- 
lime this administration of the kingdom of God 
over individual conscience, family order, social 
custom, and public law ! It is the greatest factor 
of human progress. In the perfection of its dis- 
cipline it is the surest precursor of the regenera- 
tion of the race. 

All supplementary discipline and foreign juris- 
diction are as impertinent and dangerous as they 
would be in the government of the family. As 
no help that might come to a disorderly family 
from foreign dictation could compensate for the 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 107 

displacement of the divine order of society, so no 
help of foreign ecclesiastical rule can compensate 
for the dishonor of the sole and sufficient institu- 
tion of the kingdom of God on earth. 

The evils that are abetted by unauthorized ec- 
clesiastical supervision and courts are greater than 
the benefits which they secure. From the local 
church of Christ, acting with advice of sister 
churches if need be, there should be no court of 
appeal in this world. This church in its purity 
is a surer bulwark of orthodoxy than sectarian 
journals, theological seminaries, or ecclesiastical 
courts, and the only adequate defence and impreg- 
nable fortress of Christianity. The New Testa- 
ment is the basis of its organization, the standard 
of its discipline, and its only authorized creed. To 
divert attention from all rival standards of faith, 
in founding the Tabernacle Church, William Col- 
gate desired only a formal declaration of the suf- 
ficiency and supremacy of the Scriptures as the 
rule of faith and practice, and consented to the 
adoption of a set of articles interpreting their 
meaning, as accepted by the church, only as a 
safeguard against some possible apostasy from the 
apostolic faith, and consequent loss of the proper- 
ty of the church. He insisted that every doctrine 
should be tried and every duty enforced only by 



108 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

the clear teaching of the New Testament. The 
marked influence of Deacon Colgate in church dis- 
cipline was largely due to this constant appeal to 
the word of God. While individual opinions and 
social pretensions often divide, the declaration of 
the divine will unites, the counsels of the church. 

His rare humility added weight to his views. 
He demanded no consideration for his growing 
wealth, social position, or distinguished services. 
If he was honored by all, it was because he was 
servant of all for Christ's sake. He condescended 
to men of low estate. On the Lord's Day he was 
more likely to pass unnoticed a fellow-deacon, or 
some member in comfortable circumstances, than 
the poor widow. At the door of the sanctuary he 
met all as a friend and a brother. It is not strange, 
therefore, that the church had confidence in his 
disinterestedness and honored his judgment. 

But Mr. Colgate possessed in an eminent degree 
the transparent truthfulness, candor, and shrewd- 
ness that mark the true leader of men. He did 
not claim the superior wisdom he manifested. He 
never conditioned his support upon the subservi- 
ency of the church to his views. When questions 
of choice of pastor, discipline, amusement, intem- 
perance, slavery, or of secret societies arose, he 
showed the same deference to their voice. 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 109 

His tact in avoiding divisions was happily shown 
in the manner of introducing an organ into the 
church. The prejudice against it as a symbol of 
Papacy, and tending to corrupt spiritual worship, 
was very strong in nearly all Protestant churches. 
Only one Baptist church in the city had one. 
Most of the members were averse to the proposi- 
tion to introduce one into the Tabernacle. Deacon 
Colgate shared somewhat the common prejudice. 
But, yielding to the wishes of the pastor and the 
chorister, he warily proposed to have one set up 
in the church for trial on some week-day, with the 
assurance that it should be removed at his expense 
if the members generally were not satisfied with 
its use. 

The house accordingly was filled one Saturday 
evening to listen to the organ and decide whether 
it should be retained in the church. Without pre- 
lude its first tones supported sixty trained voices, 
singing the long-metre Doxology, " Praise God, 
from whom all blessings flow." The people were 
thrilled by the rapturous strains. Then followed 
sweet revival hymns ; the whole congregation 
joined in singing. These songs never seemed 
so enrapturing before. The most prejudiced were 
satisfied. Nearly all were enthusiastic for the or- 
gan. None asked for its removal. The next day 
10 



110 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

its notes mingled with the voices of the great con- 
gregation. Ever after the music of the Tabernacle 
was an attractive feature in its services. 

A troublesome question arose in the church. A 
woman, for many years the mistress of a widely- 
known citizen, was converted. She deplored her 
sin with deep penitence. At length she sought 
membership in the church. Though the late mar- 
riage made all the reparation possible, and the gen- 
uineness of her conversion was doubted by none, 
some were opposed to receiving her without a pe- 
riod of probation. The penitent and her friends 
felt sensitive to the annoying gossip spread by this 
apparent challenge of her sincerity. There was 
danger of division in the church. When the time 
for action came, the application for acceptance and 
membership was likely to be deferred. Just be- 
fore a decisive motion was to be put, Deacon Col- 
gate arose and said : 

11 1 think, brethren, we have been a little care- 
less, and hereafter perhaps it would be wise for 
us to be more specific in our prayers. We have 
been praying to God for the conversion of sinners. 
But we have not told him what kind of sinners we 
desired him to save. He has saved, as we hope, 
this sinful woman, and we don't know what to do 
— whether to receive her or not. Perhaps if we 






CHURCH DISCIPLINE. Ill 

should be a little more careful hereafter to tell the 
Lord just what kind of sinners to convert, we may 
not have to be troubled." 

The vote was taken : the good-humor of the dea- 
con won all hearts and a unanimous vote. The 
timid penitent was cordially received, and became 
one of, the most respected and useful members of 
the church. 

The same modesty, gentleness, and charity ap- 
peared in all his discussions before the church. 
After listening patiently to others, he would rise 
deliberately and look around as if ready to give 
way to the humblest member. If no others wished 
to speak, he would step forward a little, as if com- 
ing nearer to the inspection and hearts of all in 
the transparency of his motives and the simplicity 
of his reasons, and say : 

" This, brethren and sisters, is a question of some 
importance. We need wisdom in our deliberations. 
I trust we have all given the subject prayerful con- 
sideration. After careful reflection this seems to 
me to be best. . . . But it is for the church to 
decide." 

In church difficulties and in ecclesiastical coun- 
cils his wisdom and influence were always conspic- 
uous. He became known as a peacemaker between 
alienated parties and individuals. 



112 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

A difficulty sprang up between leading brethren 
at Hamilton in respect to the methods of evangel- 
ism pursued by Elder Jacob Knapp, and the re- 
ports that the enemies of revivals raised against 
him, which threatened not only the peace of the 
church, but also the prosperity of the Theological 
Seminary. The emergency was so great that 
Deacon Colgate was persuaded to attend the Ec- 
clesiastical Council called to settle the difficultv. 

Dr. G. W. Eaton, speaking of that council, says : 
" Never did I listen to a more pertinent, powerful, 
and melting appeal than came from the lips of 
Deacon Colgate on that occasion. It broke us all 
down, and was enough to break a heart hard as 
the 'nether millstone/ 

1 * He said he regarded them both — the parties 
to the trial — as eminently useful men to the cause 
of God in their respective spheres, and they must 
cease, for the sake of that cause, their unhappy 
variance. 

"It did bring them together with tears and 
sobs and expressions of mutual forgiveness. This 
was a demonstration of the power of this good 
man in one of the most trying cases of personal 
difficulty of which I ever had knowledge/' 

Many a root of bitterness, springing up in 
churches in the administration of Christian insti- 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 113 

tutions and missions, " defiling many" and ob- 
structing progress, could be eradicated by the 
fidelity, courage, and charity of such laymen. 
For want of such timely interposition fellowship 
and peace often decay, and envies, jealousies, and 
intrigues prevail. With such gifts of government 
or discipline no church falls into schism or strife. 
With such counsellors the scandal of " rings " and 
11 regencies" will never be heard of in public ad- 
ministrations. 

Wariness and meekness, as well as firmness 
and fidelity, are essential to true and effective 
leadership. Few men know how to hold influ- 
ence without abusing and soon losing it. Wil- 
liam Colgate possessed that secret, and warily gave 
no pretext for the antagonism of even the jealous 
and captious. The same skill was shown in con- 
structive discipline. Professor M. R. Forey says : 

"Deacon William Colgate was identified with 
my earliest religious experience. The Tabernacle 
Baptist Church very wisely appointed a com- 
mittee of two members to visit at his home each 
applicant for membership, both for the purpose of 
private personal examination and to make inquiry 
of others respecting his character and deportment 
since professing conversion. Deacon Colgate was 
one of the committee to visit me. 

10* H 



114 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

11 1 well remember that after his interview with 
myself, he entered into conversation with my em- 
ployer — an entire stranger to him and an entirely 
worldly man — judiciously seeing him alone in his 
counting-room and faithfully addressing him on 
the subject of religion. 

11 During the progress of the work of grace, as I 
afterward learned, Deacon Colgate employed extra 
help in his office in order that he might give more 
time to this and other church service. 

11 It was, doubtless, owing to this and similar 
labors by him and others that so few were re- 
ceived into the church who afterward proved un- 
worthy. This sifting process, so judiciously car- 
ried on through the whole revival of several 
months, obviated the painful necessity, save in a 
very few cases, of rejecting the fruits after the last 
were gathered. Eternity alone will reveal the 
value of this service so fully rendered by Deacon 
Colgate and his brother-officers at that time." 

Rev. George Hatt, a member of the Tabernacle 
Baptist Church from its origin to the present time, 
and very intimate with Deacon Colgate in all his 
church work, writes : 

•■ The first I knew of this good man was in 
1832 ; then I knew him only by reputation. It 
was not until I was united with him in church 



CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 115 

membership, in the Tabernacle Baptist Church in 
Mulberry Street, that I was able rightly to appre- 
ciate his truly Christian character. 

' 'As a man, he was one of God's noblemen. As 
a Christian, he was known and read of all men as 
a fearless defender of the truth. As a Baptist, he 
was true to his principle ; no human reasoning 
could turn him aside from a Thus saith the Lord. 
As a deacon he was true to his office. 

11 In an eminent degree, he was a peacemaker. If 
anything occurred to disturb the harmony of the 
body, he would rise with his pleasant smile, and 
say, ' Brethren, let us remember we are in his 
presence who taught us to love one another/ ' 

Whenever he found himself in the minority he 
quietly submitted. He was a lover of his pastor, 
who at all times found in him a sympathizing 
friend. 

" He was the servant of the church. Taking 
his stand at the door of the church-edifice, no 
stranger would pass unnoticed by him ; but in his 
own peculiar style he conducted all such to a 
seat. At the close of the service they would be 
sure to be invited to come again. Many who 
united with the church referred to this fact as the 
means of bringing them under the influence of 
the truth. " 



116 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

He was a Sunday-school man. In his Bible- 
class he was no ordinary teacher, and great num- 
bers of ladies who were formerly members of his 
class bear with them to this day the remembrance 
of the lessons which he taught them in earlier 
years. 



CHURCH WORK. 



VI. 

CHURCH WORK 
" For we are laborers together with God." 

" We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also, that 
ye receive not the grace of God in vain." 

William Colgate felt that a first preparation 
for aggressive church work is to make the house 
of God accessible — free to all ; that the expen- 
siveness of public worship weans many from it, 
and prevents many more from seeking it; that the 
freeness of the gospel should be symbolized by an 
unobstructed approach to it ; that the necessary 
expenses of the house of God should be so pro- 
vided for as to avoid enforced assessments upon 
pews or obtrusive appeals for money, repelling 
those lacking religious conviction and discourag- 
ing the attendance of the poor ; that multitudes, 
unable or unwilling to pay the large pew-rentals 
demanded, especially in cities, withdraw from the 
house of God and gradually fall into neglect of the 

119 



120 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Lord's Day and of all religious observance and 
duty. 

Inspired with these views, William Colgate de- 
sired to try the experiment of free pews in the 
Tabernacle. He conferred with wise brethren, 
and finally brought the matter before the church 
by the following paper : 

4 'When any attempt to reform the church or 
make any material alteration in its discipline or 
order, it is usual that they pretend to greater light 
or purer motives than their brethren. In making 
the remarks I am about to offer, I wish it to be 
understood that I pretend to neither. I am satis- 
fied that those who differ from me in opinion have 
the same desire that the gospel should be preached 
to every creature, and have free course and be glori- 
fied, that I, or any who contend for free seats, have. 
From the long continuance of the present practice 
of disposing of seats in large towns and cities, many, 
nay most, are prejudiced in its favor ; and no doubt, 
as all who contend with prejudices, I shall be con- 
sidered singular, obstinate, and a disturber of order. 

"But this would not move me, only I lament that 
a sense of duty obliges me to differ from those I 
love, and whose opinion in other matters I value 
and am willing to be guided by. And I fear lest 
it should make me lightly esteemed by them. 



CHURCH WORK 121 

" But be this as it may — I trust in the spirit of 
meekness, using every endeavor to avoid offence, 
and being determined to acquiesce in the decision 
of the majority — I will in as few words as possible 
attempt to show what I view to be the duty of the 
church ; and the doctrine of duty, you will all ad- 
mit, is what we ought to observe before the doctrine 
of expediency. 

" I judge the best way in all cases to decide on 
what is best, or duty, is to have a view of the end 
to be attained, which is in this case to preach the 
truth as in the gospel to every creature that can 
be induced to hear. 

"I will inquire how, as a church, this duty is 
devolved on us. Christ, by his life, sufferings, and 
death, purchased for us the blessings of the gospel, 
and just before he ascended to heaven enjoined on 
his disciples this duty — ' to preach the gospel to 
all nations.' His language seems fully to import 
this : ' You have now witnessed what I have en- 
dured for sinners. My work is finished, and to 
you I commit this great privilege, which I enjoin 
as a duty to you. See that you do not neglect 
it, and do not fear difficulty, trouble, or even death, 
in the discharge of this duty, for, ' Lo, I am with 
you, even unto the end.' 

11 It may be said that this is the duty of elders, 
11 



122 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

but I trust that while that is conceived to be their 
duty as preachers, it will be seen that it becomes 
the duty of a church to uphold those that are their 
ministers in performing it. 

" Let me now show you that this duty by us is 
not performed toward several classes that are nu- 
merous in our city. I will first notice a large pro- 
portion of our populace who are not sufficiently at- 
tached to any church to be induced to hire a seat. 
Parents and their children, although it is their duty 
to attend the means of grace, will not repeatedly 
attend when they have to intrude upon the sup- 
posed rights of others ; and indeed few of us would 
like to open our doors almost every Lord's Day for 
the admission of four or five of a strange family. 
Should we tell them (before their attachment to us 
was sufficient to induce them to do it) to hire a seat, 
they will feel themselves intruders, and thus will 
end their attendance, if, perchance — which is not 
very probable — they should, knowing the order of 
the house, have courage enough to commence. So 
our hopes of increase must be confined chiefly to 
those who, from particular intimacy with some of 
the congregation, are in a special manner invited 
to come and hear. Another class of hearers we 
lose is the young and the middle-aged, such as 
strangers, apprentices, and young women who live 



CHURCH WORK. 123 

in families for sewing and other employ. Num- 
bers of this class, when they leave their parents, 
have it enjoined on them to attend public worship, 
but we know by experience that youth will not 
continually be beholden to others for seats, and 
their pride will even prevent them from filling 
those which we may see fit to set apart as free. 

" The best argument that can be used in favcc 
of the present system is that it is very general, and 
some would rather attend under the present plan 
than the other, and that its greatest advocates are 
to be found among the wealthy. 

"If the seats are free and any do not attend, 
the blame is theirs ; we lay no stumbling-block in 
the way, and the characteristic of our gospel is that 
it is preached to the poor. 

"In point of order, the freedom of the house 
has the preference in places where it is practised. 
We see none of that commotion which exists in 
our place during worship, of a number having to 
rise from time to time for the admission of females 
to the inner part of the pew ; and that preference 
which is ever shown to the affluent in our present 
system can then have no room. 

"But the most general argument in favor of 
letting or selling seats is that the cause cannot be 
supported without it. It is on this doctrine of ex- 



124 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

pediency that the friends of the system expect 
ever to maintain its continuance ; but this, I judge, 
is very fallacious." 

After thorough and prayerful consideration, the 
church unanimously resolved to make the seats of 
the Tabernacle free to all. A weekly subscription 
was made to provide for church expenses. For a 
time the treasury was kept full, and its obliga- 
tions were punctually met. But some from the 
first felt dissatisfied with the separation of fami- 
lies and the frequent change of seats. At length 
also the weekly offerings fell off. While those 
holding pews for years will not lightly give them 
up, those pledging a weekly contribution find it 
easy at any time to change its amount or discon- 
tinue it altogether. So that with free pews, unless 
liberal individuals are ready to meet recurring de- 
ficiencies, there can be no reliable provision for 
church expenses. 

For several years William Colgate cheerfully 
balanced the treasurer's account, and reported the 
church out of debt. But at length these recurring 
and increasing deficits troubled him, and made 
him doubt the practicability of free pews in the 
present state of piety. The pastor frequently 
commended their claims upon the greater liberal- 
ity of the congregation ; and Brother Colgate him- 



CHURCH WORK. 125 . 

self also frequently and felicitously, on behalf of 
the trustees, appealed for more generous contribu- 
tions, but with no marked and permanent increase. 
On one occasion, deprecating the scarcity of silver j 
in the contribution-boxes, the latter said, "We/ 
agree with Paul: ' Alexander the coppersmith hath 
done us much harm.' " 

At a later period, after the removal up town, the 
question was fully discussed as to the practicability 
of longer depending upon variable weekly contri- 
butions for the support of the church. Deacon 
Colgate gracefully yielded to the adverse vote, and/ 
from that time the pews of the Tabernacle hav£ 
been rented. L 

But this experiment was by no means a failure 
in its results. It not only facilitated the great 
revival-work of the church, but called the atten- 
tion of churches generally to the evils of exclu- 
sive rights in the house of God. It made them 
ashamed of the frequent complaints, that strangers 
were not made welcome to their assemblies. It 
quickened the attention of ushers and enlarged 
the hospitality of places of worship. It was a 
protest against the exclusiveness of congregations, 
and an appeal for inviting the people to the house 
of prayer. 

The aggressive power of any church must de- 
11* 



L 



126 WILLIAM COLGATE, 

pend largely upon its appeal to the masses. But 
the poor cannot ordinarily be attracted to the 
mission-church or to the seats designated for them 
in many of the other churches. If attracted at 
all, it must be by cheapening public worship, and 
by the impartial freedom of the sanctuary. 

If selfishness of the society, or even of the 
church, makes free pews pecuniarily unsuccessful, 
it does not prove that they are not still a condi- 
tion of successfully evangelizing great cities. The 
Hebrews, through hardness of their hearts, reject- 
ed the laws of Moses and forfeited their promise. 
And the first disciples through unbelief, unable to 
receive the doctrine of Christ, failed of the great- 
est possible spiritual benediction. 

The rejecters of free pews in cities, therefore, 
may show more wariness and worldly expediency, 
but less Christian wisdom, than William Colgate. 

But though free seats were abandoned, through 
the hospitality of the church they were proximate- 
ly enjoyed. 

Having borne a large portion of the expenses 
of the Tabernacle in its old location with its free 
pews, Mr. Colgate continued his liberality to it in 
its new site and with its rented pews, contributing 
with his family a third of the cost of the property. 

But to assure an evangelizing posture to the 



CHURCH WORK 127 

church, one of the last works of Deacon Colgate 
was the founding of a mission for her to maintain. 
A short time before his death he was present at 
the dedication of this mission, costing some ten 
thousand dollars. Those receiving the trust have 
symbolized his presence in his favorite work by a 
marble bust. At anniversaries, his portrait adorns 
the walls, celebrating his lifelong devotion to giv- 
ing the gospel to the poor. 

As a measure of church progress. Deacon Colgate 
urged punctual and universal attendance of mem- 
bers upon the social meetings. As prompt re- 
sponse to roll-call assures discipline and efficiency 
in the army, so he believed regular presence in 
prayer-meeting and public worship attests relig- 
ious devotion and discipline. Those who have no 
gift for public teaching, by loyalty to appoint- 
ments may become the most effective witnesses 
for Christ. He himself often waived social invi- 
tations and business calls, in order to be present 
at prayer- or inquiry-meetings. While seeking 
to perfect the discipline of the church through 
the prayer-meeting, he continually sought to win 
strangers to the church. He became conspicu- 
ously a " doorkeeper in the house of the Lord." 
No stranger could visit the Tabernacle the second 
time without his inquiring his name, place of res- 



L28 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

idence or of business. And before another Lord's 
Day the deacon himself would call, or request the 
pastor or other members of the church to call, and 
invite the new-comer and his family to make the 
Tabernacle their home. Persons not cordially wel- 
comed are not likely to return to any church. When 
strangers come and are made to feel that they are 
welcome, they naturally ally themselves to the con- 
gregation. He freely surrendered his own seat to 
one coming late to the sanctuary. Often, after the 
services had commenced, he was seen occupying a 
seat at the door to receive the last comer. 

In all church work Deacon Colgate sympathized 
and co-operated with the pastor. Dr. Spencer H. 
Cone, when he was called to the Oliver Street 
Church, found no truer helper. This partiality for 
his pastor was alluded to by Dr. Cone in introdu- 
cing the writer to a group of brethren soon after he 
came to New York : "This, brethren, is the young 
pastor of Deacon Colgate. That brother is one of 
the most fortunate men I ever knew in his church 
relations. He always has the best pastor. He 
reverenced my predecessor in Oliver Street, Broth- 
er Williams ; he has been partial to me, as though 
I were the best preacher in New York ; and now 
he seems equally delighted with the ministry of 
this young brother." 



CHURCH WORK. 129 

Dr. Edward Lathrop, his last pastor, says : 
" When I was called to the church in New York 
I was almost entirely without experience as a pas- 
tor, and in other respects imperfectly equipped for 
the responsible and difficult work which I then 
undertook. As I now look back to that period, 
I feel that I was almost presumptuous. It was 
my first pastorate, and I was ignorant of many 
things that I ought to have known. That I suc- 
ceeded in sustaining myself in the trying position 
in which I was placed is owing solely to the grace 
of God and the wise counsels of men, among whom 
William Colgate was the most conspicuous, who 
surrounded me and bore me up in their arms of 
love. 

1 'Deacon Colgate never scolded his young pas- 
tor. He never reproached him for his ignorance 
or his rashness. He never assumed a dictatorial 
air, and never uttered a threat, but in his inimit- 
able way would take his pastor by the arm and 
kindly suggest whether this or the other way 
might not be best, or, as though he were desirous 
of being himself instructed, would inquire how 
this or the other thing might best be done. And 
so, without seeming to do it, he would admonish 
and guide, and win always in love. If there were 
blows to take, if there were fault-findings and mur- 



1-30 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

inurs of dissatisfaction, he would throw himself in 
the breach, and, shielding his pastor, would let the 
blows descend upon his own head. 

" He was wise as a counsellor and faithful as a 
friend. He was exalted to the highest place be- 
cause he was willing to take the lowest. In the 
church he was pre-eminently a peace-maker. More 
than one occasion occurred where exciting questions 
were likely to disturb the peace of the brother- 
hood, and when, in instances not a few, churches 
not wisely influenced were distracted and rent 
asunder. Deacon Colgate always aimed at such 
times to throw oil upon the troubled waters, and 
to prevent angry discussion by keeping out of the 
church questions which, of right, did not belong 
to the church as such. 

11 He differed widely, at times, with his pastor 
and other members of the church on points which 
he regarded as of vital importance, but he never 
allowed these differences of opinion to affect un- 
favorably his personal relation to those who would 
not think as he did, nor did he love any less 
those who honestly combated his views. In a 
word, and taking him in his relations to the fam- 
ily and to the church, I have never known a truer 
or more conscientious and more lovable man. 
His memory is precious ; his name will be held 



CHURCH WORK 131 

in everlasting remembrance ; and his works, they 
follow him." 

" My earliest recollection of Deacon Colgate," 
says Professor Harvey, "is connected with the 
Baptist Tabernacle in Mulberry Street. The house 
was large, and was in the midst of a dense popu- 
lation, and the purpose of the church was, if pos- 
sible, to gather from the unevangelized masses 
around them. The seats were all free, and I ob- 
served on entering that two men already venerable 
in years, and evidently of high social position, were 
acting as ushers, one at each of the doors. One 
of them was Deacon William Winterton, the other 
Deacon Colgate. 

"I was then a student in the grammar-school 
of the New York University, and was still uncon- 
verted ; and I can never forget the warm, genial 
greeting received from him, nor probably would 
any stranger ever forget it. Dignity and kindness 
were so perfectly blended in the whole expression 
of the man, and the welcome was so thoroughly 
hearty, that you were inevitably won and at once 
made at home : ' Happy to see you, sir ; shall I 
show you a seat ?' At the close of the service I 
noticed that these venerable men took their places 
at the door as the people were passing out, and 
strangers were again taken by the hand : ' Hope 



132 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

you have been interested, sir. We have an ex- 
cellent minister. The seats are all free. We shall 
be very happy to see you again." The stranger 
thus welcomed was quite sure to come again, and 
soon his name and address would be ascertained, 
in order that members of the church might call on 
him, and he was cordially invited to attend the 
social as well as the public worship of the church. 
No wonder the house was soon crowded with a 
congregation enthusiastic in their love of the pas- 
tor and people, and that the church was increased 
by a multitude of souls won for Christ. 

44 In the great revival which followed in the win- 
ter and spring of 1839-40, when the young pastor 
was assisted by Elder Knapp, Deacon Colgate was 
most effective alike in counsel and action. He was 
simple and direct in his prayers, and straightfor- 
ward and common-sense in his addresses, but he 
seemed to me to excel especially in his power to 
influence men individually. In the inquiry-meet- 
ing, which was a regular weekly gathering in that 
church for years afterward, he was remarkably apt 
in his method of putting and illustrating truth, 
making himself specially helpful to perplexed souls 
in leading them to Christ. 

14 Within a short time five or six hundred were 
added to that church, increasing it to nearly or 



CHURCH WORK 133 

quite a thousand members. They were scattered 
widely over the city, and many of them had been 
drawn from the irreligious classes, and were unac- 
customed to the Christian life and to church rela- 
tions and duties. How to develop the Christian 
life in this great mass of converts was a problem 
of no little difficulty. Here, as in many other 
ways, Mr. Colgate's great organizing power was 
shown.' ' 

The following suggestion of a plan for super- 
vision and co-operation in the Tabernacle Church 
may be equally available for all city churches : 

11 The church government and order adopted by 
our Baptist churches we judge to be scriptural, 
and well adapted to the edification of the saints, 
and aims at the desirable object of keeping an 
oversight of the members in their respective 
churches. 

" Yet in large cities assistants maybe needed 
by pastor and deacons in carrying into effect all 
the benefits the order of our churches was intend- 
ed to afford their members. Every person of ob- 
servation and reflection must be sensible of the 
difference in situation, in many particulars, be- 
tween a church situated in the country or a small 
town and one in a large city. 

11 A church located in the country or a small town 

12 



134: WILLIAM COLGATE. 

has generally an almost permanently located popu- 
lation, a large proportion of their members live in 
their own families ; and the consequence is that 
the members of a church thus located are ac- 
quainted with each other, while the pastor and 
deacons have some knowledge of the whole. 

11 A church located in a city containing a dense 
population, as New York, is very differently situ- 
uated. Removals from one part of the city to* 
another are constantly occurring. Removals from 
the city are frequent. A large portion of the 
nlale population are engaged as apprentices, jour- 
neymen, clerks, etc. The females in great num- 
bers are employed as domestics, others in sewing, 
as tailoresses, milliners, mantuamakers, and in 
binding hats, shoes, books, etc., and whose con- 
nections to a OTeat extent reside out of the city. 
Their occupations lead them to frequent removals 
both in the places of residence and employment. 
This population is composed of a large proportion 
of young persons. Removals out of this city are 
so frequent that the estimated period for an aver- 
age residence is from seven to ten years. And 
the experience of every large church in our city 
proves the impracticability of keeping a thorough 
oversight of its members. When members from 
the country unite with us, they soon feel that the 



CHURCH WORK 135 

privileges of covenant-meetings and of an ac- 
quaintance with the brethren they do not enjoy 
to the same extent that they did in the country ; 
and we hear continually the lamentation that 
members have left their attention to religious 
duties and have backslidden to the world before 
any one has noticed them. 

" It is to remedy such evils and for the comfort 
and edification of the body, that we recommend the 
appointment by the church of a sufficient number 
of assistants to enable us as a church with order 
to carry out our church privileges to every mem- 
ber, so that each one may enjoy and be benefited 
by them. We would therefore recommend — 

" 1. That a sufficient number of brethren be 
chosen as assistants. 

"2. Each assistant shall keep a book contain- 
ing the names and residences of each one under 
his watch-care, and no one shall have a number 
to exceed twenty-five. 

" 3. It shall be the duty of each member of the 
church to have his or her name enrolled in the 
book of an assistant whom they may select, unless 
his number be full ; in that case, one who has not 
twenty-five under his watch-care may be selected. 

"4. It is required that each company thus 
formed meet together at such time and place as 



136 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

may be agreed upon once every month, within 
eight days previous to the monthly ordinance ob- 
served by the church. 

44 5. It is recommended that these monthly 
meetings shall not exceed one hour, and that the 
time be spent as is customary in a Baptist cove- 
nant-meeting. 

"6. If an assistant should necessarily be ab- 
sent at a monthly meeting, it shall be his duty to 
select some suitable brother to fill his place for 
that meeting. 

" 7. It shall* be the duty of each assistant to 
make a written report to the pastor of the state 
of the members under his watch-care everv three 
months, previous to the ordinance days in Feb- 
ruary, May, August, and November. These re- 
ports shall be made by filling up blanks printed 
for the purpose. 

"8. It shall be the duty of the pastor to report 
quarterly at a meeting of the deacons so much of 
this information as in his judgment is desirable. 

44 The manner recommended for conducting a 
monthly meeting : 

" 1. Be punctual, and commence the meeting 
by religious worship. 

44 2. Inquire into the spiritual state of each one 
present, and learn if any of the number are sick. 



CHURCH WORK 137 

"3. Carefully avoid any remarks which may 
have any tendency to wound feelings or injure 
character. 

" 4. Make arrangements that every absentee be 
visited by some one of your number before your 
next monthly meeting. 

" 5. See that each one of your number sub- 
scribes for the support of the church. 

" 6. Any member may introduce as a visitor 
any person who is in his opinion inquiring after 
religious truth or under a religious concern of 
mind. 

"Pkinted Questions. 

"1. How many compose the number under 
your watch-care? 

11 2. How many attend your monthly meetings ? 
- " 3. Are any of your number sick ? and who ? 

11 4. Is any one of your number in the habit of 
neglecting public worship ? 

" 5. Have any of your number removed beyond 
the bounds in which they can attend our meetings ? 

" 6. Does each one of your number subscribe to 
the support of the church ? ■ 

11 7. Are there any inquirers known to any one 
of your number ? and if so, how many ? and are 
they receiving that Christian attention they re- 
quire ? 

12* 



138 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

"8. General remarks, in which you will care- 
fully guard against any infringement of the direc- 
tions contained in Matt, xviii. 

" It is expected that these assistants will prove 
a great help to the officers, and that the officers 
will frequently meet the brethren in their monthly 
meetings. The various benevolent objects which 
the church may desire to aid will doubtless have 
many facilities by this plan which otherwise could 
not be enjoyed, and it is expected that the assist- 
ants chosen will prove themselves brethren ready 
for every good work." 



VIL 

CHURCH EXTENSION. 



VII. 

CHURCH EXTENSION. 

" Striving together for the faith of the gospel/' 
" To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you." 

William Colgate belived that the Baptists in 
New York generally, in their devotion to ortho- 
doxy and order of the church, had somewhat ne- 
glected her evangelizing mission. He inquired 
anxiously why more souls were not converted 
under the instruction and eloquent preaching of 
his honored pastor. In the annual visits to Ham- 
ilton to encourage ministerial education he was 
stirred by the reports of revivals in every part of 
the State, and accounts of the labors of evangel- 
ists, and of the measures and success of the pro- 
tracted meetings they were holding. He desired 
to introduce some of these evangelistic methods 
into New York. But they were generally dis- 
trusted, and he shrank from pressing measures 
distasteful to his brethren. He awaited an op- 

14] 



142 WILL JAM COLGATE. 

portunity to organize a more aggressive church. 
The Mulberry Street Church, of which Dr. Archi- 
bald Maelay was pastor, through change of popula- 
tion and other causes had become discouraged. The 
West Church, an outgrowth from Mulberry Street, 
disheartened by the removal of their pastor, Dr. 
John Dowling, desired to reunite with them in 
some new departure. 

William Colgate seized this opportunity. A 
score or more of the members of the Oliver Street 
Church followed him, uniting with the above- 
named, and one or two other smaller interests, 
in constituting the Tabernacle Baptist Church 
and taking possession of the property and field 
of the old Mulberry Street body. 

The writer was called, on his graduation from 
Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution, to 
become the first pastor. He commenced his labors 
in October, 1839. In February, 1840, Elder Jacob 
Knapp commenced a series oi meetings with him. 
Already public attention had been called to the 
Tabernacle. Many had been converted and bap- 
tized before the work of the evangelist began. 
The Lord's Day morning when Elder Knapp first 
appeared in the pulpit nine were baptized, and 
that afternoon more than twenty were received 
into the fellowship of the church. Pastor and 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 143 

people earnestly seconded the powerful sermons 
and pungent appeals of the evangelist. 

The sensational press, commenting on his ser- 
mons and methods and on the recurring baptismal 
scenes, increased the crowds thronging the Taber- 
nacle day and night. 

No member of the church was more active and 
enthusiastic in the meetings than William Colgate. 
He was early at the door to greet and introduce 
strangers. He was present in the inquiry-meeting, 
and prompt in visiting those seeking Christ. With 
-devout admiration he stood by the baptistry and 
waited upon candidates descending into and ascend- 
ing from the symbolic grave. 

During that series of meetings, .lasting nine weeks, 
scores w r ere baptized at a time. At one communion 
season the hand of fellowship was given to nearly 
two hundred, filling all the aisles of the great 
house, which was crowded in every part with sol- 
emn spectators. 

" My first clear recollections of Deacon William 
Colgate," says Rev. C. A. Buckbee, " carry me 
back to the organization of the Tabernacle Baptist 
Church, about the year 1838. Rev. Dr. Maclay 
had given up the pastorate of his church in Mul- 
berry Street. The great house of worship was for 
sale. Deacon Colgate determined that it must not 



144 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



go out of the hands of the Baptists. Through his 
generosity it was secured and opened as a free 
place of worship. Rev. Mr. Hoe, of London, was 
engaged to supply the pulpit. Deacon Colgate left 
the Oliver Street Church and the eloquent Dr. Cone, 
his pastor, by whom he was greatly beloved, and 
threw his whole soul into the new free-church 
enterprise. 

11 In the winter of 1838-39, Rev. Jacob Knapp 
held his revival meetings in Brooklyn. Deacon 
Colgate, his wife, and children attended the Brook- 
lyn meetings. Several of his children, Robert, 
William, Mary, and Sarah, were converted, and on 
the second Sunday in February, 1839, they were 
baptized. Sixteen, I believe, put on Christ that 
cold February morning. It was one of the hap- 
piest days of my childhood. I was one of the 
number. The old Tabernacle was crowded. It 
was the first immersion scene I ever witnessed, 
for I had been brought up a Methodist, and had 
never seen a gospel baptism till I stood, on that 
day, a candidate for the sacred rite. Deacon Col- 
gate was in his element, receiving his children and 
others from the hands of Mr. Hoe as they ascend- 
ed joyously from the baptismal font. 

" From that time on there was a steady acces- 
sion to the membership of the new church. Elder 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 145 

Knapp had been engaged to hold meetings the 
next winter with the Tabernacle Church, and all 
through the year prayer was unceasing. But the 
great need was a settled pastor ; and Deacon Col- 
gate opened a wide correspondence, in order to 
secure the right person. 

11 Prophecies were many that the free-seat sys- 
tem would fail. Few ministers of wide repute 
were willing to engage as pastor of a new and 
small church in a great city that had no income 
from rented pews. In their anxieties for a suit- 
able pastor the deacons were reminded of a young 
man about to graduate from Hamilton, W. W. 
Everts. He was said to be a popular off-hand 
speaker in college, and was also a powerful preach- 
er, having built up a large congregation at Earl- 
ville, not far from Hamilton. He proved to be 
the young David in our Father's family who was 
destined to become the pastor of the Tabernacle 
in New York, and a great leader in the denomina- 
tion. Deacon Colgate visited Earlville, heard him 
preach, was satisfied with him, and invited him to 
visit New York and preach for the new church a 
few weeks. His fervid pulpit eloquence attracted 
immense congregations ; he was unanimously called 
to the pastorate, and after his graduation in Au- 
gust he entered upon his work as our pastor. 

13 K 



146 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

11 Mr. Everts' settlement as pastor attracted 
many other strong Baptists to the Tabernacle. 
Deacon Colgate's free church began to look like 
success. Baptisms were frequent, and when the 
time came for Elder Knapp to begin his meetings 
lie found the people in a revival spirit. He came 
into the church accompanied by Deacon Colgate, 
at whose house he was a guest for the next nine 
weeks. His first sermon was on ' Lukewarm- 
ness,' after which Mr. Everts baptized eight or ten 
converts. We thought that we were not luke- 
warm, but Elder Knapp's discourse made us all 
feel that we were far from ready for the mighty 
work into which we were just entering; whose 
grand results, as I now recall them, were due to 
the preparatory work of the young pastor and his 
devoted church." 

From that day forward the revival in the Tab- 
ernacle was the absorbing topic in the city. The 
Herald filled its columns with comments on the 
great work, and accompanied its report of bap- 
tismal scenes with a caricature of Elder Knapp 
and the pastor which only served to increase the 
excitement in the city. Other churches were 
mightily awakened. About two thousand were 
supposed to have been converted, who joined the 
various churches ; not less than five hundred unit- 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 147 

ed with the Tabernacle. Some of the converts 
became distinguished in the church for ability, 
some became ministers of the gospel. For nine 
weeks the church was crowded every evening, and 
frequently thousands were unable to get inside the 
large building, in which more than two thousand 
persons sat or stood for hours listening to the 
claims of the Saviour. 

" All this time Deacon Colgate was at his post. 
Never was pastor or evangelist aided by a deacon 
more thoroughly fitted as a helper in winning and 
caring for souls. The usual methods of visiting 
candidates for baptism to examine into their pre- 
vious character had to be in a measure dispensed 
with ; but Deacon Colgate was a host in this part 
of his work. Leaving all his business to others, 
he might be seen daily going to the homes of con- 
verts or inquirers to encourage them, and in our 
daily meetings to hear experiences and applicants 
for baptism. His counsel in doubtful cases was 
never at fault. 

"One thing surprised me, and I did not know 
how to explain it for years — how it was that such 
an immense number of converts kept steadily on 
in their Christian life. I learned years after that 
the eye of Deacon Colgate was upon them. He 
had suggested a system of neighborhood prayer- 



148 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

meetings for young converts. There were at dif- 
ferent times and places some twenty or thirty 
young converts' prayer-meetings held weekly in 
various homes in the city. The converts, without 
any knowledge of the system, were thus brought 
into relations for knowing each other and for con- 
tinuance in well-doing. The result was that very 
few comparatively fell away from their love of the 
Saviour and their service in his church. 

"The effect of the great revival in 1839-40 
was far-reaching. It made the Tabernacle one of 
the most influential of the churches in New York. 
From that church have gone out other churches 
and influences that can never die. To Deacon 
Colgate's generosity in founding a free place of 
worship, his constant watch-care for its good, his 
wisdom in seeking for it a young pastor in sym- 
pathy with him in his desires for the masses, his 
large heart, and his warm revival spirit, are due 
the grand results of that great awakening and 
that influential church." 

The revival spirit continued in the Tabernacle 
Church in an eminent degree for a long period, so 
that, though many were dismissed to other churches, 
its net membership had increased in three years 
from three hundred and fifty to nearly a thousand. 
Persons baptized during that period have become 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 149 

distinguished as founders of other churches and 
as among the most liberal patrons of the educa- 
tional and missionary institutions of the Baptist 
denomination, and have contributed ornaments to 
the pulpit and the college. 

No Baptist church in New York can be more 
clearly and honorably identified in its later history 
than the Tabernacle. The mother church still 
stands on Second Avenue with honorable record, 
full congregations, and brightening future. The 
newly-organized Laight Street Church, under the 
pastorate of Rev. Halsey Knapp, holding the field, 
property, prestige, and enterprise of the original 
organization, which was a colony of the old church, 
cannot be separated from its history and honor. 
Nor can the present Central Church on Forty-Sec- 
ond Street, for it was greatly strengthened by the 
incorporation of old Laight Street. 

To the great honor of Mr. Colgate, it can be said 
that, while feeling solicitude at the formation of 
the Laight Street Church, he met with those pro- 
jecting the enterprise and counselled and prayed 
with them, and by his influence contributed to pre- 
vent partisan and jealous feeling, so liable to arise 
in all church colonization. The change of centres 
of population was so rapid that even Laight Street 
seemed a down-town church, and the Tabernacle, 

13* 



150 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

to hold its congregation, was compelled to move to 
Second Avenue. 

But other churches, and the whole Baptist cause, 
were largely affected by the revival spirit and en- 
terprise of the Tabernacle Church. The Sixteenth 
Street, Cannon Street, Norfolk Street, Sixth Street, 
Bloomingdale, and other churches were inaugu- 
rated or received the impulse of a new departure 
in revival work, missions, and church building dur- 
ing that memorable period. 

Some may undervalue the labors of Jacob Knapp 
as not leaving permanent results. But the same 
class of critics have disparaged all revivals. Did 
not irregularities and reactions follow the ministry 
of the apostles ? What fruitage remains of their 
evangelism in Western Asia and Northern Africa? 
What reaction has followed the reforms of Luther 
and Knox and the evangelism of Bunyan and 
Whitefield ! Religious apathy followed the re- 
vivals of Edwards, the Tennants, Nettleton, and 
Finney, as well as of Knapp. There have been 
spiritual epochs in the history of the human world, 
as well as geological epochs in the history of the 
globe. As the distribution of soils, the appear- 
ance of islands, have been determined by upheav- 
als of the earth, so the introduction and triumph 
of Christianity have been assured by religious re- 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 151 

vivals. Europe everywhere bears traces of the 
evangelism of reformers and martyrs. 

The state of religion in this country is largely 
due to the work of evangelists and pastors labor- 
ing in revivals. Methodists trace their marvellous 
growth to revivals on all their widening fields ; 
Baptists, South and North, owe their rapid increase 
to the same source. No evangelist of any denom- 
ination in this country was more successful in win- 
ning converts and promoting the spirit of revival, 
missions, and reforms in the churches than Jacob 
Knapp. He jealously guarded the honor and of- 
fices of the church in his work. 

If evangelism should ever separate itself from 
the supervision and control of the churches, it 
would speedily degenerate into a dangerous fanat- 
icism. But so long as its methods are crystal- 
lized around their order and discipline, it may be 
safely trusted as a pioneer force of the great army 
of Christian progress. 

While honoring evangelism, William Colgate 
saw that a perfected church discipline was needed 
to garner and perpetuate its fruits. He sought 
especially to interest all churches in a domestic 
evangelism. 

In the Hudson River Association, June, 1856, 
he introduced the following resolutions : 



152 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

il Whereas, Many churches of this Association 
are located in the cities of New York and Brook- 
lyn, and the membership of these churches is annu- 
ally changing to a very large extent by many leav- 
ing country churches to unite with city churches, 
and more leaving our churches for a country 
residence, causing by these frequent changes a 
state very different from one in a more staid 
population ; 

"And whereas, The dense population of these 
cities is continually increasing and changing, com- 
ing from all parts of our own land and from for- 
eign lands, and whose residence with us is gen- 
erally very brief, removing to other parts, and 
generally to the West ; 

"And whereas, While the population of these 
cities has largely increased within the past five 
years, it appears by the statistics of our churches 
that there has been no actual increase in the 
membership during the same time ; this state 
of our population, differing so widely from the 
usual state of the inhabitants in other places, has 
impressed the minds of many that our labors by 
churches and individuals are not so happily adapt- 
ed to our position as might be ; and it being de- 
sirable that our churches should be in possession 
of all the united wisdom of this body, and that 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 153 

of others in this land whose thoughts have been 
directed to this subject, that we may learn how 
most efficiently to labor for the spread of the king- 
dom of our Lord and the increase of spirituality, 
love, and union in the churches ; therefore 

" Resolved, That a committee of five be appoint- 
ed, carefully to deliberate on this subject during 
the coming Associational year, and report what, 
in addition to our present efforts, can be done to 
benefit our churches, and also how we can best 
labor to impress with gospel truth the minds of 
the multitudes leaving our city to settle in all 
parts of our republic. 

"Resolved, That this committee be instructed to 
obtain advice from all the ministers of this Asso- 
ciation by a circular addressed to each, and also 
that they extend this circular to many in other 
parts of the country whom they may judge wise 
in counsel. 

u Resolved, That this committee be requested to 
print so many copies of their report as they may 
deem proper, with such extracts of letters as shall 
enlighten the churches, in order that the Associa- 
tion at its next meeting may be prepared to delib- 
erate and act on their report." 

In accordance with these resolutions, the follow- 
ing circular, dated December, 1856, was addressed 



154 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

to the clerks of the various churches belonging to 
the Association : 



u Dear Sir: 

" The accompanying preamble and resolutions of 
the Hudson River Association, South, present the 
subject upon which we would solicit your views. 

11 We respectfully suggest the great importance 
of awaking earnest inquiry in our churches and 
Associations upon the subjects embraced in these 
resolutions. We believe there is nothing in the 
whole range of human enterprise that can be com- 
pared in magnitude or importance with the gospel 
for improving and ameliorating the condition of 
mankind, and that it is the distinguishing glory 
of our churches to direct their energies primarily 
to its promotion. 

"The propriety of urging a consideration of 
this subject at the present time is apparent from 
an examination of the published statistics of the 
Baptists in the city and vicinity of New York 
for the past five years, from which it will be seen 
that, notwithstanding, the large increase of popu- 
lation, the number of members in our Baptist 
churches in the city of New York has diminish- 
ed over six hundred ; and in the vicinity of New 
York the actual increase falls short of one thousand. 



CHURCH EXTENSION, loo 

11 We believe our churches and Associations 
may very appropriately inquire whether the past 
history of our churches does not prove our liabil- 
ity to become too strongly attached to forms and 
practices observed and taught us by our fathers, 
and which may not be the best adapted to the 
spread of the gospel at the present day. 

11 We would propose the following inquiries, 
and solicit replies to any or all of them, as well 
as any other suggestions that in your judgment 
may aid in accomplishing the desired object: 

" 1. Can any change be made in the mode of 
conducting our religious services on the Lord's 
Day which will add to the interest and prosperity 
of our churches ? 

" 2. What can be done most effectually to reach 
and thoroughly cultivate the entire field within the 
boundaries of the several churches and of the Asso- 
ciation, and would it be advisable to establish mis- 
sionary stations or preaching in the open air ; and if 
so, how can they best be sustained in the present 
embarrassed condition of many of our churches ? 

11 3. Would not a uniform rule as to Sunday col- 
lections have a tendency to strengthen our feeble 
churches by removing a distinction, which is some- 
times felt to be odious, between them and more 
wealthy churches ? 



156 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

11 4. Can any means be suggested to awaken and 
increase a desire for more frequent conversation 
upon religious subjects in the families and social 
intercourse of Christian men and women ? 

" 5. Can any improvement be made in the mode 
of conducting Sunday-schools, and in the selection 
of books for their libraries ? 

11 6. Can any way be devised to correct the grow- 
ing habit of attending church to gratify or improve 
the intellect as the chief object, rather than to wor- 
ship God ? 

" 7. Can any improvement be made in the or- 
dinary mode of conducting family devotion, so as 
more effectually to interest all alike in the discharge 
of this important duty ? 

" 8. Can any change be made in conducting our 
meetings for social prayer and conference, so as to 
increase their usefulness ? 

"9. What few books, easily obtainable, can be 
selected which can be recommended as best adapt- 
ed to awaken the unconverted and promote do- 
mestic piety? 

11 On behalf of the Committee, 

11 William Colgate, 

11 Chairman. 

" No. 6 Dutch Street, New York. 



CHURCH EXTENSION. 157 

"If you should think proper to reply to the 
above, you are respectfully invited to do so before 
May, 1857." 

What stronger statement of the need of the co- 
operation of Baptists in large communities has ap- 
peared in any of the late appeals for social or other 
Baptist unions in cities ? 

We would suggest its republication in seeking 
to form new unions or to perfect the methods and 
usefulness of those already existing. 

14 



Yin. 
CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 



VIII. 

CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 

" From you sounded out the word of the Lord, not only in 
Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God- 
ward is spread abroad. "' 

" Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every crea- 
ture." 

Every Christian believer is appointed to spread 
the name, kingdom, and glory of Christ to what- 
ever extent and by whatever means he is able. 
He may avail himself of any time and opportu- 
nity to tell his experiences, views, and hopes of 
the great salvation ; so that if only one Christian 
remained on earth, a competent authority and 
agency might exist for the restoration and spread 
of the gospel. But as Christianity, in normal ex- 
perience, assumes social form, it becomes the priv- 
ilege and duty of believers, whenever they can, to 
unite in spreading this common faith, so that the 
local church everywhere becomes, by the purpose 
calling them together, a missionary society. 

14* L 161 



162 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

This primary union of believers is fully com- 
missioned to establish Christianity throughout the 
world. What the individual believer cannot ac- 
complish, he can associate with fellow-believers in 
doing. This confederation of believers, available 
at any time and in any part of the world, exists 
to carry out Christ's mission to the world. It may 
send its missionaries to the farthest land, to every 
race and nation. If all missionary societies and 
all other churches should disappear, one Christian 
church remaining would be a competent missionary 
organization to resume and carry forward the work 
of Christianizing the world. 

Through a long period the apostolic church 
spread the gospel through wide lands without 
any other known missionary organization or the 
counsel and direction of advisory boards. In like 
manner, later martyr communities spread the gos- 
pel throughout Europe. The sense of responsibil- 
ity in the individual believer and in the local 
church is a greater impulse and force in spreading 
the gospel than any enthusiasm awakened merely 
by wider missionary alliance. In forming and ad- 
ministering general societies, this individual and 
church responsibility should always be cultivated 
and provided for. If it is not recognized by 'mis- 
sionary organizations, unwittingly more harm than 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 163 

good may be done. It would probably work well 
should national societies, so far as possible, encour- 
age churches and small associations of churches 
to assume the support of certain portions of the 
missionary work. Thus the policy of designating 
funds to particular fields, particular missions, native 
assistants, or other departments of work, now found 
to be so productive, might be made more general, 
and the care and responsibility for missions be dis- 
tributed over the entire country, collecting agencies 
multiplied indefinitely, and missionary funds great- 
ly increased. 

Toward this policy of greater freedom of mis- 
sions in their self-direction, and greater freedom 
of churches in selecting their own fields and meth- 
ods of labor; our general missionary societies are 
now manifestly tending. Those inquiring for the 
best method of carrying out Christ's mission will 
feel more and more the importance of honoring his 
church, the only missionary society he or his apos- 
tles saw fit to establish. 

It is not forgotten that the helpful alliance of 
churches in the work of missions is now wisely 
sought, but constant vigilance is necessary lest the 
sense of responsibility in individuals and in the 
churches be impaired, or their freedom in doing 
their own constitutional work in their own way be 



164 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

fettered. They need to feel habitually that they 
have £C work to do, and that they cannot cast that 
work upon others, but are themselves directly re- 
sponsible for its accomplishment. They should be 
encouraged to personal sympathy, counsel, reflec- 
tion, and also to contribution to particular individ- 
uals, fields, or works, in order to bring donors and 
recipients together, according to a universal law 
of charity. On this principle various charities to 
the poor are bestowed, the largest educational and 
charitable endowments are secured, and by it mis- 
sionary funds may be increased indefinitely. 

But contribution to missions should not be de- 
ferred for wiser missionary organization. Progress 
is oftener attained through second- or third-best 
than through first-best plans. Those who would 
do most good must work with the instruments 
available. Though practical plans rise in efficiency 
only as they approximate true theory or the prin- 
ciples of human nature, still a benefactor cannot 
wait for perfected agencies. 

William Colgate magnified the church as the 
divine institution for all Christian mission, and 
showed his partiality to it in laboring to give the 
widest efficiency to the church of which he was a 
member, but he took a lively interest in church 
extension in the Association and in co-operation 



CHRISTIAN MISSIONS. 165 

with the State Convention. Home Missions, em- 
bracing especially the work in new States and Ter- 
ritories, appealed alike to his piety and his patriot- 
ism. He was the friend and counsellor of Jona- 
than Going in organizing ihe denomination to con- 
quer North America for Christ. The conversion 
of Judson and Rice inspired no one with more en- 
thusiastic hopes than William Colgate. When in 
this country to awaken Baptists to the work of 
foreign missions, they shared his hospitality. 

He was one of the earliest and largest contrib- 
utors to the funds of the Triennial Convention. 
A distinguished missionary w T as sent out and long 
supported on the field at his expense. His credit 
was sometimes given to the Missionary Union, 
which succeeded to the work of the Convention. 
In a time of financial distress officers of the 
Board came to New x York for help to save the 
treasury of the Union from dishonor. Few seem- 
ed able, and fewer willing, to furnish the needed 
credit. As the stringency of the times made the 
burdens he was bearing for the Tabernacle Church 
and for ministerial education at Hamilton heavier, 
Deacon Colgate shrank from assuming further re- 
sponsibilities which others were unable or un- 
willing to share. But after hours of anxious and 
prayerful deliberation, when no other hope ap- 



166 WILLIAM COLGATE, 

peared and the messengers of the Board were 
about to return to meet dishonor, Mr. Colgate 
gave his name and saved the honor of our 
missions. 

His interest in the Missionary Union continued 
unabated to the last. He shared the views of 
many in respect to the earliest possible independ- 
ence of the native churches. Though in their 
inception, like the apostolic churches, they may 
need to be under supervision ; like those primitive 
churches, they should at the earliest period possi- 
ble be entrusted with independence. All true 
missions should early culminate in the order of 
independent apostolic churches. Missionary or- 
ganization and discipline should be a provisional 
arrangement, to be varied according to the exig- 
encies of time and place, and ultimately pass 
away, leaving over the world the scene which was" 
witnessed after the first great persecution : " Then 
had the churches rest, and, walking in the fear of 
the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were 
multiplied. " As land after land is won to the 
kingdom of Christ, missionary societies should 
withdraw supervision and control, yielding to the 
higher and more permanent sovereignty of churches 
— yielding gracefully to them as John did to Christ : 
" He must increase, but I must decrease/' 



IX. 

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS 
AND REFORMS. 



IX. 

CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS. 

"The Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the 
works of the devil." 

" As God's kingdom was set up, so the devil's kingdom may be 
pulled down, without the noise of axes and hammers.'' 

The mission of Christianity is moral as well as 
spiritual. Piety^without morality is fanaticism. 
When men become disciples to Christ now as in 
the time of John, then only there will be thorough 
moral reform. Christianizing men is the surest 
method of reforming them ; and the church of 
Christ is the most available and effective agen- 
cy for moral reform in the world. Her com- 
prehensive and spiritual discipline, generally en- 
forced, would supersede other moral and beneficial 
societies. 

The worthy membership of the church are al- 
ways provided for in poverty or misfortune. 
Those long and creditably connected with the con- 
gregation also receive sympathy and relief, which 

15 169 



170 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

is generally more grateful than that awarded by 
public charities or beneficial societies. Reduced 
to a perfected ecclesiastical order, society will 
need no poorhouse, prison, or criminal court. 
Through the spirit and discipline of the church, 
woman has been elevated, the slave emancipated, 
war ameliorated, the prison relieved of its barbar- 
ities, asylums opened, and a hundred charities and 
reforms inaugurated. 

Though perfectly-ordered churches might carry 
forward these reforms without other alliance, lim- 
ited and imperfect church discipline has made 
necessary various evangelistic, charitable, and re- 
form societies. The most important of these is 
association for training the young. 

A warrant for such association is given in the 
requirement of early religious education by Moses, 
and by the apostolic injunction to bring up chil- 
dren "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." 

In a degree which has been proportioned to 
their apostolic spirit and discipline through the 
ages, pastors and churches have anticipated the 
modern Sunday-school. But in the prevalence of 
the Papacy this work was so far ignored that its 
resumption seemed a new dispensation, and it has 
been celebrated by an International Centennial 
and by a commemorative shaft in London. 






CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS. 171 

But the prejudiced and partisan character of 
history has ignored the proper training of children 
by apostolic pastors and churches through the 
ages, and also the part taken by members of in- 
dependent churches in restoring the prominence 
and promise of early Christian education through 
the modern Sunday-school. Among those enroll- 
ed upon the memorial shaft are named Eoman 
Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Unitarians, 
and Methodists, but no Baptist. Yet, waiving the 
devotion of Baptists to early religious education 
even from the apostolic age, no denomination has 
been more prominent than they in inaugurating 
the modern Sunday-school. 

F&2L>»^-^Baj^^ studying the problem 

of instructing the ignorant masses contemporane- 
ously with Raikes, improved upon his suggestions 
and methods, and first developed the order of the 
modern Sunday-school with its free teaching and 
paramount religious purpose. Gurney, a Baptist 
layman, was prominent in founding the London 
Sunday-school Union, serving at different times 
as its Secretary, Treasurer, and President. The 
wife of the subject of this sketch joined with a 
few pious women in New York in forming one of 
the first societies in this country for promoting 
Sunday-schools. Mr. Colgate himself at that early 



172 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

date formed an association in the church for the 
study of the Scriptures, appropriately named ''The 
Searching Society," and was one of the chief sup- 
porters of the Sunday-school in Oliver Street, 
among the oldest in New York. 

The church, faithfully carrying out Christ's mis- 
sion, has always defended liberty, and steadily 
opposed oppression in all its varying forms of 
monopoly, caste, class usurpation, and legalized 
tyranny. It overthrew slavery in the Roman 
Empire. It emancipated the slaves in the West 
Indies and the serfs of Russia. It prepared the 
way for the freedom of the Africans in this coun- 
try, and spanned the dark clouds of war with a 
bow of promise , for the Republic, and for the Af- 
rican race in both hemispheres. It was to the 
honor of William Colgate that he apprehended 
more clearly than most men the possible union of 
conservatism and progress in the Christian church. 
No one hated slavery more than he did, yet none 
was more charitable to the slaveholder. 

He maintained fellowship with his brethren in 
the South, feeling assured that, through the guid- 
ance of the divine word and Spirit, difference of 
opinion in regard to slavery would pass away. He 
felt it to be safe to follow the apostolic example, 
and receive into the church those giving credible 



CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS. 173 

evidences of regeneration. He believed some in- 
heriting slavery were more free from its spirit, and 
more just and charitable, than many who denounced 
them. 

The drinking usages of the mother-country cha- 
racterized the colonial and early history of our own 
land. Few refused the cup, and fewer still were 
bold enough to condemn its use. No hospitality was 
deemed complete without passing it. One's wealth 
and social position were attested by the abun- 
dance and variety of liquors furnished to his guests. 
From the freedom and excitability of pioneer life, 
intemperance became more obtrusive, if not more 
prevalent, in the New than in the Old Country. 
Apprehension and alarm for its consequences were 
awakened earlier on this than on the other side of 
the sea. And the temperance reform was inaugu- 
rated here before public sentiment was prepared 
for it in England or Germany. As in all reform, 
the churches were the first to see and point out 
the magnitude of the evil to be overcome. 

The first apostles of the temperance reform were 
prominent preachers or laymen. Before the ap- 
pearance of volumes of temperance sermons and 
reports, personal conviction, example, and protest 
obtained in different parts of the country. 

" One of the interesting incidents in my father's 

15* 



174 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

life," says a son of William Colgate, " was in re- 
gard to the subject of temperance. It was the 
universal custom to partake of wine, and it was 
always a mark of hospitality observed by all, 
including Christians, to offer wine and cake to 
every visitor. 

"Men in those days were no stronger in their 
will to overcome temptation to drink than now. 
My mother often had conscientious scruples in ob- 
serving this custom. One day her husband an- 
nounced the death of two clergymen from intem- 
perance. This made a strong impression on her 
mind. 'I feel,' she said, 'that I am in some 
degree responsible for the death of these minis- 
ters, for I have helped both of them to wine in 
my house.' Placing her feet firmly on the floor, 
and addressing her husband, she said, ' I am re- 
solved to discontinue this practice, cost me what 
it will.' It was only the next Lord's Day when 
an occasion offered to test this resolution, for the 
minister who preached returned to their house. 
He was surprised to find that no wine was offered 
to him, and after several significant hints to re- 
mind my mother of this neglect, he at last asked 
for a glass, pleading fatigue after the morning's 
exertion. My mother went to the sideboard, gave 
him a glass, and returned the decanter to its place 



CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS 175 

without offering the same hospitality to two other 
ministers present. 

"In our day we cannot realize the nerve and 
effort required to carry out such a resolution. My 
father says her cheeks crimsoned, but nevertheless 
she maintained her purpose. My father became 
so convinced that some public action should be 
taken on this subject, that he prepared the follow- 
ing resolutions, which he offered at the next meet- 
ing of the Hudson River Baptist Association : 

" 'Resolved, That we recommend to the members 
of our churches not to offer ardent spirits to their 
friends as a mark of hospitality. 

11 'Resolved, That we recommend to those en- 
gaged in the manufacture and sale of ardent 
spirits to carefully consider how far the business 
agrees with their profession.' 

" With great effort he succeeded in finding a 
minister to consent to second these resolutions. 
At the time appointed, when miscellaneous busi- 
ness was in order, father offered the resolutions. 
At once the whole assembly was thrown into con- 
fusion, and after half an hour of excited remarks the 
Moderator asked if the mover would not for the 
sake of peace withdraw them. My father replied 
that he would not consent to their withdrawal, but 
observed that in the confusion both the Modera- 



176 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

tor and objector liad overlooked the fact that his 
motion was not seconded. A brother had promised 
to do it, but his moral courage failed. Then the 
Association was quieted, and resumed its business." 

Dr. 0. C. Comstock, a member of Congress, 
and afterward a Baptist minister, soon after enjoy- 
ing the hospitality of William Colgate on his way 
to Washington, was shown the rejected temperance 
resolutions, and made them a text for stirring tem- 
perance addresses among his constituents in Cen- 
tral and Western New York. 

The late Dr. J. B. Jeter tells a parallel per- 
sonal experience in temperance discipline in Vir- 
ginia, further illustrating the religious origin of 
the temperance reform. In 1810, having heard 
the boast of an older boy that he had tasted no 
liquor for three years, the Virginia lad, more per- 
haps from a motive of brave singularity than from 
any idea of safety, entered into a mental pledge of 
total abstinence. Later, in making Christian pro- 
fession, this boy was greatly tempted to reassert 
his natural liberty, so safely guarded in the mode- 
ration of the Christian life. But after wavering 
for a moment he reaffirmed his temperance cove- 
nant. The relation of this personal pledge to the 
organization of temperance in Virginia is described 
in the author's life of Dr. Witt : 



CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS. 177 

"Some time during the summer of 1822 an 
event occurred which I ought not to pass over in 
silence, as it contributed largely to the safety and 
fidelity of my life. We (he and myself) were at- 
tending a public meeting, and had spent the night 
at a brother's house. In the morning, as the cus- 
tom was, a decanter of spirits with sugar and 
water was set out, and we were invited to par- 
take of it. We were led into conversation on the 
subject. We concurred in the opinion that it was 
not only a useless habit, but that it was fraught 
with pernicious consequences. We then and there, 
on a beautiful Lord's Day morning, mutually re- 
solved to abstain during the remainder of our 
lives from the use of intoxicating liquor as a bever- 
age, and to use it only as a medicine if used at 
all. We pledged ourselves each to the other in a 
hearty shaking of hands, and that sacred pledge 
we have religiously kept for half a century.* 

"The pledge was in itself of small moment. 
That two lads living in obscurity should resolve 
to abstain from using intoxicating liquor as a 
beverage, while all their neighbors continued its 
use, may have seemed to some to be unworthy 
of record. But tall trees grow from little acorns, 
and great effects flow from slight causes. That 

* Life of Witt, pp. 58, 59. 
M 



178 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Lord's Day morning pledge caused the Rev. Ab- 
ner Clopton of Charlotte County to abstain from 
using strong drink, and led on to the formation 
of the Virginia Temperance Society. He was 
unquestionably the father of the temperance ref- 
ormation in this State. He conceived the plan of 
the Society, called the meeting for its organization, 
drafted its constitution, defended its principles, pre- 
pared the eloquent address to the public which 
accompanied the publication of its first minutes, 
employed his tongue, pen, and purse for the pro- 
motion of its interests. Witt and myself were 
present at the organization of the Society, felt a 
deep interest in its success, but played an unim- 
portant part in its formation. The Society was 
organized at Ash Camp Meeting-house, Charlotte 
County, Virginia, in the autumn of 1826. Ample 
notice had been given of the meeting ; a large and 
excited congregation was present, and after a full 
discussion of the principles and aims of the Society 
and earnest appeals for persons to join it, only ten 
could be found willing to sign the pledge, and 
most of these were ministers who had come from 
a distance to be present at the meeting. The So- 
ciety was here like a grain of mustard-seed sown 
in good soil. It soon sprang up and became a 
great tree. In a few years a Temperance Con- 



CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS AND REFORMS 179 

vention was held, representing all religious de- 
nominations from various parts of the State/ ' 

Afterward the Washingtonians, Sons of Tem- 
perance, Good Templars, and other societies arose 
and took up the work from this Christian begin- 
ning. These contemporary movements in New 
York and Virginia illustrate the religious origin 
of the temperance and other reforms, and the 
prominence of Baptists in them. 

The use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage 
has been forbidden by rule or prevented by per- 
sonal appeal in Baptist churches generally. One 
storing his cellar with choice liquors and furnish- 
ing them to his guests would not be recognized as 
a representative Baptist, but w^ould gradually lose 
the confidence of the denomination. While there 
may be little proof of courage or self-denial in the 
poor discarding expensive drinks, it is an attesta- 
tion of noble independence and subserviency to 
the moral sense of the church and the public 
welfare for one to rise above the temptations of 
fashionable wine-drinking. 

No people can be recovered from the degrada- 
tion of intemperance so long as their leaders de- 
fend the social glass. John Bright declares that 
weaning the English people from their intoxi- 
cating drinks would be the most comprehensive 



180 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

and beneficent reform of England. Farrar and 
other leading philanthropists see that it is pre- 
posterous to expect the consummation of this re- 
form without the pledge of the clergy and other 
respected classes. The Presidents of the United 
States have left their testimony to the promise of 
total abstinence from intoxicating beverages. But 
total abstinence can never become general without 
pledging the rising generation. The common mis- 
sion of patriotism, philanthropy, and Christianity 
is to banish intoxicating beverages from the home, 
the church, and ultimately from the country. Al- 
ready the membership of evangelical churches gen- 
erally are pledged against them. No denomina- 
tion has enrolled an earlier or more efficient 
leadership of this and other Christian reforms 
than the Baptist, conspicuously represented by 
the subject of this Memoir. 



X. 
MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 



16 



X. 

MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 

" Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that 
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 

Feom the long association of culture with perse- 
cuting state churches Baptists became distrustful 
of its pretensions. Their pastors were looked 
down upon by the university graduates, but the 
only alternative w T as between pastors without di- 
plomas and pastors without piety. They preferred 
for their pulpits, above all wisdom of the schools, 
the knowledge of Christ, that most excellent sci- 
ence. Learning, so often employed to misrepre- 
sent and asperse them, was subordinated to moral 
worth and spiritual gifts, but never undervalued. 
Before the Declaration of Independence they 
founded a school in New Jersey, which was after- 
ward removed to Rhode Island and known as 
Brown University. In rapid succession the vari- 
ous States were supplied with Baptist colleges. 

No people can be expected to rise in social posi- 

183 



184 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

tion above the culture of their ministry. Illiteracy 
disaffects educated communities. Effective men 
must be trained, but self-drill or study with a 
senior pastor too often lacks the thoroughness and 
expedition of a college course. The same care 
can be taken in sifting graduates, to winnow out 
ambitious and unconsecrated talent, and retain for 
the ministry only those furnished with spiritual as 
well as natural gifts. 

William Colgate rose above the lingering preju- 
dice against an educated ministry. To him, Paul's 
description of the qualifications of a pastor was 
sufficient proof of the need of special talents and 
theological training for the ministry. His deep 
interest in the study of the Scriptures made him 
appreciate those devoted to their exposition. 

11 His large Bible-class in the old Mulberry 
Street Tabernacle," says Dr. Harvey, "was al- 
ways a centre of interest. His clear statements 
of truth, his wide information, his genial spirit, 
and happy way of putting a point always held the 
attention and interest of a class ; while in its num- 
bers it often of itself made what in many churches 
would be considered a respectable congregation. 
His mind inclined to the experimental and prac- 
tical, rather than to the doctrinal ; and by ex- 
treme Calvinists he was regarded, I believe, as 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION, 185 

somewhat latitudinarian. He had read much in 
the prophecies, and was deeply interested in their 
interpretation. His fund of knowledge on this 
subject was very large and rich. It was with him 
an engrossing study. I remember while a student 
meeting him one afternoon in the street, when 
after a few cordial words of greeting he began an 
exposition of some prophetic passages with which 
his mind had evidently been engrossed, and so 
completely absorbed did he become in his great 
theme that we actually stood on the sidewalk an 
hour while he poured forth the rich results of his 
recent reading and reflection on the subject." 

He was ever watching for gifts for the pastoral 
office. .On one occasion, walking leisurely along 
Nassau Street with his pastor, a crowd was seen 
around a vender of razor-strops. Deacon Colgate 
paused, and called the pastor's attention to the 
street-merchant's tact, in tones of voice and skil- j 
ful appeal of wit and sententious remark, in se- / 
curing the attention of a crowd. He remarked, 
11 What a talent for a preacher this man has ! 
How he manages to get and hold the attention 
of the passing multitude to so trivial a matter ! 
Preachers have an infinitely more important appeal 
to make. They should try to succeed as he does, 
in commending the truth." 

16* 



186 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Like Baptists generally, lie magnified the nat- 
ural and spiritual gifts, as authenticating a call to 
the ministry. 

14 In the great revival of the Tabernacle/ ' says 
Dr. Harvey, "his eye was ever directed to the 
young men entering the church, watching for min- 
isterial gifts. Of those then received there were 
soon, I think, some ten or twelve at Hamilton in 
a course of education, most of whom were pre- 
paring for the sacred office. They maintained 
there for some time a weekly Tabernacle prayer- 
meeting. Of that number some have now gone 
to their reward. Josiah Hatt, a younger brother 
of the eminent city missionary, Rev. George Hatt 
of New York, was early called to his rest, but not 
till a character of great Christian excellence had 
been matured and marked blessing had descended 
on his work. He died, I believe, at Orange, New 
Jersev. Rev. James S. Dickerson, D. D., has more 
recently passed away. His was a nature distin- 
guished by a singular purity and consecration to 
the Master, combined with an unfailing geniality 
and a marvellous wealth of genuine wit and hu- 
mor, making him at once one of the truest of 
friends and the most delightful of companions. 
He attained an eminent position alike as a preach- 
er and pastor and as an editor and a leader of pub- 






MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 187 

lie thought. Others of the number remain, of 
whom may be named Rev. Charles A. Buckbee, 
D. D., of San Francisco, and Rev. M. R. Forey 
of Port Jefferson, New Jersey. 

" Up to the last of life Mr. Colgate devoted his 
best thoughts and energies to the work of minis- 
terial education, especially at Hamilton. Its first 
appeal met from him a ready response. Professors 
Daniel Haskell and Nathaniel Kendrick stopped 
at his home. As early as 1823 he took an active 
part in the work by establishing in New York 
City an auxiliary society to aid the new instituH 
tion. He interested his brothers and brothers-in- 
law in the enterprise. His name led the first list 
of subscribers, and year by year his contribution 
increased. He secured collections from his own 
and other churches of the metropolis. He was 
opposed to endowment, on the plea that such an 
institution should never lose the sympathy called 
forth from the churches by its ever-recurring needs. 
He prepared an address on the education of min- 
isters and laymen, which in a most comprehensive 
and cogent manner marshals arguments and scat- 
ters objections. His increasing contributions led 
to increasing interest in his annual visits to Ham- 
ilton to share the responsibility of the board of ad- 
ministration. 



188 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

In the great and prolonged controversy about 
the removal of the school to Rochester, the centre 
of a more growing and active section of the State, 
and surrounded by more enterprising churches, 
William Colgate took the deepest interest. He 
agreed with Dr. N. Kendrick, Dr. George W. 
Eaton, and others from the first, that Hamilton 
and the theological character of the school could 
not safely be abandoned. 

He was immovable in the conviction that, how- 
ever desirable it might be to share the public sup- 
port in secular and higher education, such assist- 
ance would be no compensation for the loss of the 
religious regime of the school. However import- 
ant secular education might be, so long as the 
state so largely provides for it, and so many rich 
citizens, without religious convictions, are ready 
to contribute to it, he did not think that a people 
of moderate means should leave the support of 
their churches, their church extensions, their mis- 
sions, and theological schools to found secular 
schools. 

So founders of modern missions begin to agree 
that secular education among the heathen is not 
the special mission of the churches, and that their 
sacred funds may well be limited to the education 
of native preachers and Christian converts. If 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 189 

the education of unconverted heathen makes them 
more wary emissaries of Satan and more effective 
opponents of Christianity, the same evils may at- 
tend unsanctified culture in Christian lands. 

With these views, he was unwilling, as a phil- 
anthropist and Christian, to venture his means in 
any educational movement where Christianity 
could not be openly taught, and where the dis- 
tinctive principles of his own denomination could 
not be freely expressed. 

So urgent was the movement to remove to Roch- 
ester that for a moment he yielded his convictions 
to what seemed to be the will of the denomination. 
But when convinced that the decision of the Coun- 
cil held at Albany was not wise, and asked how 
the Board at Hamilton dared disregard the voice 
of the denomination, he replied: " We dared not 
do otherwise. We must obey the voice of God 
rather than the voice of the denomination. He 
is wiser and stronger than man. The voice of 
the denomination will in the end answer to the 
voice of God." 

At this crisis he yielded his scruples as to en- 
dowments far enough to pledge a large amount to 
rally others to save and strengthen the old and 
honored institution at Hamilton. 

While the wisdom of the Rochester movement 



V 



190 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

may have been clearly vindicated, and its religious 
and denominational character made more sure by 
the discussions of the danger of ultimate secular- 
ization, the wisdom of retaining the institution at 
Hamilton has been no less conspicuously shown. 
There is no reason to believe that the abandon- 
ment of Hamilton would have hastened and made 
so great the University of Rochester as it has 
been with the generous rivalry of the old school. 
Nor perhaps would Hamilton have risen so surely 
and rapidly to its present magnificent endowment 
without the stimulus of a competing enterprise. 

It now seems strange that the friends of educa- 
tion throughout the State generally assumed that 
only one school could prosper, and that one must 
be abandoned or left without Faculty and students. 
It is now evident that more sympathy and re- 
sources would have been wasted by repression 
than were lost by what seemed superfluous ex- 
penditure. William Colgate was one of the first 
to agree that both schools should be encouraged, 
and to deprecate mutual disparagement. 

So long as the regime of religion could be as- 
sured by the constitution and policy of the Educa- 
tion Society, and by the traditions and public senti- 
ment of Hamilton, he felt no aversion to the en- 
largement of the Literary and Theological Semi- 



MINISTERIAL EDUCATION. 191 

nary to the departments and proportions of a uni- 
versity. A university without any creed in its 
corporation speedily becomes godless or the prize 
of some intriguing sect. 

Our fathers wisely remitted higher schools to 
the guardianship and honor of different denomi- 
nations. 

Though William Colgate still recognized as the 
higher purpose of the denomination the education 
of missionaries, ministers, and pious laymen, he 
greatly enjoyed the enlarging sphere of the Uni- 
versity and the reputation and influence of its 
graduates in the world. It is not strange that the 
prominence of the family name in the early his- 
tory of Hamilton has continued, and culminated 
in its late magnificent endowments. The wisdom 
and deeds of the father have been celebrated by 
the larger contributions of the sons. 

As we look at the mighty river, traversing the 
continent, bearing its commerce and travel, and 
fertilizing its plains, we sometimes think of the 
springs on the far-off table-land from which it 
took its rise. So, while we count up the thousands 
of the alumni of Hamilton — the seventy foreign 
missionaries, the hundreds of home missionaries, 
the twenty presidents and eighty professors, the 
authors and editors, the legislators, judges, and 



192 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



theologians she has educated — we recall with grat- 
itude the wise and self-denying founders of the 
school. The name of Colgate is the highest on 
the roll of its benefactors, and will be the most 
resplendent in its future annals. 



XI. 

THE BIBLE FOR THE 
PEOPLE. 



17 



XL 

THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 

" Earth, Earth, hear the word of the Lord." 

" Speak unto all the cities of Judah all the words that I com- 
mand thee to speak unto them ; diminish not a word." 

Having made the Bible the source and stand- 
ard of his Christian profession, he studied its pages 
with ever-increasing enthusiasm to the end of life. 
He traversed its histories, prophecies, Gospels, 
Epistles, and the Apocalypse as a mining expert 
explores mountain-ranges for suspected deposits 
of mineral wealth. He might have exclaimed 
with the Psalmist, " Oh, how I love thy law ! It 
is my meditation all the day." " I love thy com- 
mandments above gold, yea above fine gold." 

Again and again he recurred to familiar pas- 
sages, comparing scripture with scripture. Among 
Christian friends he easily, almost habitually, turn- 
ed conversation upon the divine word. He often 
suggested new and striking thoughts, illustrating 

195 



196 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



the profitableness of the Scriptures " for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness." Few preachers could illustrate so for- 
cibly the obligations of the ordinances of Christ. 
At the time of the great revival of 1839—40 we 
remember his illustrations from retributions follow- 
ing disobedience to positive law, as in the punish- 
ment of eating the forbidden fruit ; Uzza for ap- 
proaching the ark ; Abihu for profaning the altar 
with strange fire ; of the prophet torn by a lion 
on a forbidden path ; of the Jewish nation neglect- 
ing the rites of Moses. His comments on these 
examples of the punishment of disobedience were 
afterward published in a tract and widely circu- 
lated. Deacon Colgate was especially an enthu- 
siastic student of the prophets. He was rapt by 
a holy enthusiasm, while devoutly inquiring what 
their sublime predictions mean and promise. 

In his last interview with Dr. Harvey he 
spoke of a plan he was making to secure a series 
of discourses on the principal events in the life of 
Christ, to be afterward published. Thus more 
than twenty years ago he perceived a want in the 
literature of the New Testament, since supplied by 
half a score of publications. 

If he had lived, he would have enthusiastically 
encouraged the international and systematic study 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 197 

of the Bible in Sunday-schools. He often dwelt 
upon the position of Baptists in regard to the 
Bible as the supreme authority in religion. Ap- 
peal to it has been their watchword from the 
apostolic age. While others have set up divers 
standards, they rallied with martyr devotion 
around it as the only and sufficient rule of faith 
and practice. 

Inspired with the purpose to make the Bible 
the book of the people, Joseph Hughes, an Eng- 
lish Baptist, inaugurated the movement which cul- 
minated in the origin of the British and Foreign 
Bible Society. The first Bible Society in Amer- 
ica was instituted in Philadelphia, December 12, 
1808, about four years after the founding of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society. The second 
was founded in New York two months later, 
February 11, 1809. Then followed in quick suc- 
cession the "Massachusetts Bible Society," July 
13, 1809; the " New York Bible and Prayer- 
book Society," September, 1809 ; the " New York 
Bible Society," November, 1809; and the " New 
Jersey Bible Society," December, 1809. After 
this, local Bible Societies were multiplied through- 
out the land. 

The most influential denominations were very 
naturally most prominent in founding these State 

17* 



198 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Societies. The Episcopalians, through the excep- 
tional popularity of Bishop White, were leaders in 
Pennsylvania ; the Congregationalists in Massa- 
chusetts ; and the Presbyterians in New Jersey. 
A notable exception was the " Young Men's Bible 
Society of New York." Though its origin was two 
months later, it seems to have been entirely inde- 
pendent of that of Philadelphia, and may have 
been in process of formation before that Society. 
William Colgate had a Bible, the cherished gift 
of his father, which he left in his pew in the First 
Baptist Church as a place of sacred deposit, and 
where it might be available for use on the Lord's 
Day. This Bible was missing. After searching 
through the church to find it in vain, he said to 
Joshua Gilbert, a member of the church, and 
afterward his brother-in-law, " What a pity any 
should so much need the Bible as to steal it!" 
He spoke to other members of the church about 
the matter, and then to a larger circle of Christian 
friends, and at length proposed the formation of a 
society to give the Bible to the destitute. This 
was the origin of the first Bible Society in New 
York. Having sprung so directly from a Baptist 
Church, it is not strange that most of the constit- 
uent members were Baptists, and the principal 
offices were filled by Baptists, though on the 






THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 199 

board the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Meth- 
odist denominations were represented by some 
of their most worthy and well-known members. 
The following is the printed declaration of prin- 
ciples and the constitution of this first Bible So- 
ciety of New York : 

" Whereas, The revelation which it has pleased 
God to make to mankind in the Holy Scriptures 
of the Old and New Testaments concerning his 
existence, will, works, and grace in Jesus Christ 
is of inestimable value ; and the distribution of 
the sacred volume in which the revelation is con- 
tained, amongst such of our fellow-creatures as are 
unable to purchase it, may, under the blessing of 
Divine Providence, be the means of promoting 
their moral and eternal interest ; — w T e, the sub- 
scribers, have formed ourselves into an association 
to which we have given the name of the ' Young 
Men's Bible Society of New York/ and have 
agreed to and ratified the following as the Consti- 
tution of the said Society : 

"The object of this Society is to distribute 
the Bible only— and that without notes — amongst 
such persons as may not be able to purchase ; and 
also, as far as may be practicable, to translate or 
assist in causing it to be translated into other 
languages." 



200 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

It needs no special evidence that this prominence 
of Baptists in the administration awakened the dis- 
trust of other denominations, and prevented large 
and permanent co-operation with it. 

In September following the Episcopalians formed 
a Bible and Prayer-Book Society, and two months 
later the New York Bible Society was inaugurated, 
chiefly by other Pedobaptist bodies. It is not 
strange, therefore, that, with these dissensions' and 
the comparative weakness of Baptists in wealth 
and social position, the first Bible Society did not 
maintain a conspicuous or prolonged history. 

Still, in other local societies, following in various 
changes of name and policies, Baptists obtained 
prominence and influence beyond their numbers 
and wealth, such as were not awarded to them in 
the American Bible Society. Finally, this first 
institution and other local societies were merged 
in one New York Bible Society, and this seems 
to have been a chief factor in the formation, in 
1816, of the American Bible Society. It not only 
had the greatest influence from its metropolitan 
location, but it represented greater organized forces. 
It alone of the auxiliaries passed over property to 
the national organization. 

The peculiarities of the first Bible Society in 
New York deserve distinct notice. It was the 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 201 

first impulse to all the Bible organizations of New 
York, which so largely shaped the subsequent 
Bible-work in the country. Its declaration of 
principles is as clear and comprehensive as that of 
the British and Foreign or of the American Bible 
Society. Though, like other local societies in this 
country, called into being primarily to give the 
Bible to the destitute around them, unlike them, 
it grasped at once the mission of the Bible for the 
world, and the consequent duty of providing for 
the translation of the Bible into all languages. 
The very terms of its Constitution, though second 
in date, give it the first place in grandeur of aim. 

William Colgate gives Baptists the first place in 
comprehensive Bible organization in this country, 
as Hughes gives it to them in Great Britain. Af- 
ter laboring zealously in the formation of Bible 
societies, the Baptists were constrained to with- 
draw from the American Bible Society by the fol- 
lowing train of circumstances : 

The Bengali version of the New Testament by 
Pearce and Yates, after being circulated for many 
years, was finally refused support by the Calcutta 
branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. 
The American Bible Society went further, and ex- 
cluded from its list the Burmese version by Dr. 
Judson. 



202 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

This seemed to Baptists a great wrong : 

1. The rejected versions had been formally ac- 
cepted. 

2. The Constitution pledged support to " accept- 
ed versions," wherever found, and the " most faith- 
ful/ ' wherever required. The rejected versions were 
not only the accepted versions, but also the most 
faithful, as attested by both native and foreign 
scholarship. 

3. The Society was supporting Romish versions 
— hence its action was invidious as well as un- 
just. 

4. It still circulated other versions which trans- 
lated, instead of transferring, the word baptizo. 

While the question was pending before the Board, 
and after several ministers had spoken on each 
side, and the Chairman had risen to put the ques- 
tion, William Colgate arose and with great mod- 
esty asked the attention of the Moderator, and 
spoke as follows : 

11 1 have been for many years a member of this 
Board, and it has been my privilege to sit and ad- 
mire the able manner in which every subject has 
been discussed, and the correctness of its decisions, 
without ever having called upon the Board to at- 
tend to any remarks from me. But I now feel 
myself compelled, as a manager of this institu- 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 203 

tion and a Baptist, to state my objections to the 
resolution before you ; and I must beg every mem- 
ber of the Board to reflect, as a Protestant, that 
we are at this time called on in a peculiar manner 
to stand shoulder to shoulder to resist the flood of 
scepticism and Catholicism that is flowing in upon 
us and threatening the peace and safety of our 
Christian institutions, and even our civil liberties. 
In this noble work of spreading the Scriptures we 
have thus far happily united, and shall we now ex- 
pose ourselves to the sneer of infidels and of all the 
enemies of truth, who will triumph at this divis- 
ion, and declare that in no one thing are we agreed ? 
For, sir, I plainly perceive that we are kindling a 
fire in this room that is destined to burn in every 
city, town, village, county, and in a large number 
of families, throughout the United States. 

" I must think the resolution before you is quite 
uncalled for. Heretofore each denomination has 
taken the responsibility of its own translations, 
and it has worked w T ell. Let each one continue 
to do so. I can assure you the Baptists will take 
the responsibility of theirs, and will not covet a 
share in the responsibility of others. 

"But, sir, this resolution is aimed at the Bap- 
tists, and at them only. Strip the resolution of 
its present garb, and it means only to say that the 



204 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Baptist shall not translate the Greek word baptizo 
and its cognates, but must transfer it. And for 
what? Is it translated wrong? No gentleman 
will say so, but they say it is a bar to our mission- 
aries who would enter the countries where such 
Bibles are circulated. Why, sir, we have made 
no objections to your translations, although we 
knew they were in one version l sprinkle/ and 
in another * a watering ceremony/ and we can 
assure you we think this no bar to our mission- 
aries, whose duty it is to preach the truth and op- 
pose error; and if they find a Bible incorrectly 
translated, they will endeavor to prove it so to the 
people. And if our translations are false or sect- 
arian, let your missionaries prove them so, but let 
not this noble institution be severed on this ques- 
tion, for we have on this point never used decep- 
tion ; by our ministers we have declared in our 
pulpits, and by the press, and beside all waters 
where we administer the ordinance, that the mean- 
ing of this word is immersion, and immersion only; 
and I believe no Baptist ever did or ever will trans- 
late it differently. 

" It has been stated that Doctors Way land and 
Sharp are in favor of this resolution, and that only 
a few of the denomination will be opposed to it 
or leave this Society in consequence of its adop- 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 205 

tion. No gentleman on this floor, I presume, has 
greater esteem and respect for these gentlemen 
than myself, and I highly respect their opinion ; 
but, sir, if these gentlemen think so, and if there 
should be found many more Baptist doctors to 
agree with them, and you could persuade every 
Baptist on this floor to agree to the resolution be- 
fore you, you would then have so many on that 
side, but then, be assured, the whole denomination 
would stand opposed to it. 

" On this point, sir, I do not speak without re- 
flection. I have for years been so circumstanced 
as to be very extensively acquainted with Baptist 
ministers, and I can assure you I speak advisedly 
when I say the whole denomination will stand 
opposed to this resolution. The Baptists, sir, as 
described by the Rev. S. H. Cone are a peculiar 
people. No man can lead them ; no man can 
drive them. Their churches are all independent, 
and each one will think and act for itself, acknow- 
ledging no master but one Jesus. And let me 
notice one peculiarity they have of loving to extol 
Jesus as King in Zion, calling and believing him 
to be infinitely wise. This King, as King in 
Zion, has appointed a positive institution — not a 
moral law, growing out of the nature of things — 
in which he has commanded every subject-disciple 



206 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



of his to be immersed in his name. Now, sir, if 
we admit that he gave this institution in such 
language that, after all the learning that can he 
brought to bear upon it, no one can understand 
what he meant by it, it would be a reflection on 
his wisdom that the Baptists would never for a 
moment admit. Sir, by this resolution, you ask 
us to yield a point that we in conscience never 
can. 

"I appeal to learned gentlemen present ac- 
quainted with ecclesiastical history, who know 
that in days of persecution the very name of Ana- 
baptist exposed a man to all manner of perse- 
cution, and even to martyrdom, and on this very 
point. If our forefathers had been as vacillating 
as you ask us who are Baptists now to be, what 
a multitude less of martyrs there would be at this 
moment around the throne of glory than are now 
there ! 

"No, sir; the Baptists have been and now are 
friends to this noble institution, and now stand 
before you and ask, ' What have we done to 
offend ?' If we have not behaved ourselves with 
propriety, it has been unintentional. Or is it only 
by translating this little word that we offend ? I 
can assure you we wish to translate it rightly ; 
and if we have not, I think I do not assume too 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 207 

much in saying that if any one or more gentle- 
men will prove wherein we have mistranslated 
it, and how we may correct it, we will not only 
change it, but feel grateful for the information. 
But never, never, will we knowingly be guilty of 
covering up any part of God's truth, or putting 
it under a bushel, or giving it in an unknown 
tongue. Would it not, sir, be very unreasonable 
to expect us to surrender the authority of God's 
word to' the behest of this Society, or of any other 
body of men, however learned?" 

After long discussion, the Board, by a vote of 
twenty-nine to fourteen, made the new order uni- 
versally binding ; and the Baptists were thus ex- 
cluded from the old Society they had so long 
supported. 

After this action, Dr. S. H. Cone, encouraged 
by William Colgate and other brethren, addressed 
a circular to the Baptist Triennial Convention, 
meeting in Hartford in 1835, announcing the 
action of the American Bible Society, and calling 
for the consideration of measures to meet the 
exigency. 

The discussions led to a unanimous decision in 
favor of sustaining the versions of our missionaries. 
But while some favored a new Bible Society, others 
would devolve the support of these versions upon 



208 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



the Triennial Convention. A General Convention 
was called to meet in Philadelphia in 1836 for 
counsel, and if deemed best to form a new society. 
Among those ministers conspicuous in advocating 
a new society were — S. H. Cone, Elon Galusha, 
E. W. Cushman, B. T. Welch, and Nathaniel 
Kendrick. The chief remaining objection to the 
proposed new society was the apprehension that 
the principle of pure versions for the world might 
encourage an immediate demand for a revision of 
the English Scriptures. A compromise was offer- 
ed, and after long discussion unanimously, though 
reluctantly, passed: "That until otherwise ordered 
by the Society" the circulation of the Scriptures 
in the English should be confined to King James's 
version. 

While this Bible Society met obstructions in 
divided counsels, it met also formidable opposition 
from Pedobaptists as a sectarian movement. They 
even sought persistently through the Board of the 
New York Bible Society to prevent the Legislature 
of New York from giving it a charter. At a spe- 
cial meeting held February 19, 1846, Mr. Blatch- 
ford, from a committee previously appointed, pre- 
sented a remonstrance to the Legislature against 
granting a charter to the Baptist Bible Society 
under the title of "American and Foreign Bible 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 209 

Society." This document was read and adopted 
as the remonstrance of the Board, and the Presi- 
dent was charged with the duty of transmitting it 
to the Legislature. On account of this opposition 
the charter was with difficulty obtained, and not 
till a second application was forwarded, with ar- 
gument and a deputation. 

But the Board of the American and Foreign 
Bible Society felt embarrassed in advocating the 
pure Bible for the world while neglecting English- 
speaking peoples. It was said the minority at 
Hartford were right in objecting to a new society 
if ultimately only foreign versions were to be made 
accurate. As the reluctantly-conceded restriction 
in its very terms contemplated the possibility of 
its early abrogation, those most active in the con- 
troversy with the American Bible Society and in 
the formation of the American and Foreign Bible 
Society began to inquire when the revision of the 
English Scriptures might be properly undertaken. 

To prepare the way for its intelligent consider- 
ation by the Board and Society, Deacon Colgate 
and others procured at their own expense a ten- 
tative revision of the New Testament by a distin- 
guished Greek scholar, furnishing examples of some 
of the changes which would probably be agreed 
upon in a final revision of the New Testament. 

18* o 



210 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

This measure, which was designed to facilitate in- 
quiry and wise action, was strangely misapprehend- 
ed and misrepresented to the public. Conservative 
Baptists became alarmed at the supposed desecra- 
tion of the Bible, and prepared to make a decided 
stand against any change of the common version. 
At the next annual meeting the experimental re- 
vision, together with the Board which had allowed 
it — except the President — were repudiated. Dr. 
Cone declined the presidency of a Society, which 
he believed had refused to do its providential work, 
and, calling the Vice-President to the chair, said : 

" I bid you, my brethren, an affectionate fare- 
well as President of a Society I have loved, which 
has cost me money, with much labor, prayer, and 
tears. I hope that God will direct our future 
course in mercy, that we all may do as much good 
as such creatures as we are able to accomplish. 
May the Lord Jesus bless you all !" 

Saying this, he descended from the pulpit, and 
immediately left the house, accompanied by the 
former Secretary, W. H. Wyckoff, and the former 
Treasurer, William Colgate. The sensation pro- 
duced upon the audience was indescribable. 
Strong men were in tears. The retiring Presi- 
dent was honored by complimentary resolutions. 
But when it was proposed to embrace the name 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 211 

of the Treasurer in the same kindly expression, 
some objected on the ground that he did not re- 
sign, but was deposed from office. The conse- 
quences of these events are seen in the divided 
counsels obstructing Baptist Bible-work for thirty 
years. In the light of the great English revision 
movement, who would not be willing to be num- 
bered among those who at that earlier day sought 
to secure the same result? 

While Baptists in this country were being inter- 
ested in the Bible question, Deacon Colgate, in a 
letter dated April 15, 1836, appealed to the Bap- 
tists in England to join tngn in defending the 
purity of the Bible. The following is a copy^of 
his letter on the importance of union of the Eng- 
lish Baptists in translating the Bible : 

"Dear Brother: 

"Some weeks past I addressed a few lines to our 
late brother Wilson, your late Treasurer, not know- 
ing, at the time, of his decease, and forwarded it 
by John Bowin, Esq., which, as it was directed to 
the missionary-rooms, you have probably seen. I 
am now emboldened to address these lines to you, 
knowing the deep interest you feel in all things in- 
teresting the Redeemer's kingdom, and I having 
been, as a manager of the American Bible Society, 



212 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

acquainted with the debates on the important ques- 
tion before that institution in relation to our Bap- 
tist translations in Asia. My object is to call the 
attention of the wise of our brethren in England 
to the subject, as it now interests our own denom- 
ination, to consider how far we can act in union 
in giving the word of God, as translated by our 
missionaries in Asia, to the many millions, who 
from our missionary-stations must naturally look 
to us for the Bible. 

11 The wonderful preservation of the lives of our 
brethren in those unhealthy climes, the peculiar 
gifts with which it has pleased the Lord to endow 
them for the translation of his word, and also the 
wonderful blessing with which he has crowned 
their efforts, meet us as a voice from heaven, to 
say that we as Baptists must awake and supply 
these destitute millions with the word of life. 

11 In referring to the late division of the Board 
of the American Bible Society, it is but just to 
say, that the Board is composed of gentlemen of 
high standing and well-earned reputation ; that 
the debate was dignified, and conducted on both 
sides with a spirit becoming the character of the 
Board ; and that we have only to lament the 
prejudice imbibed in early education, which led 
them to pass a resolution that severs from them a 



THE BIBLE FOR THE PEOPLE. 213 

half a million of Baptists with their more numer- 
ous adherents, because they could not persuade us 
to unite with them in making this, the most noble 
institution that graces our free land, subservient to 
Pedobaptist interest. 

"It is now evident that the English and the 
American Bible Societies will act in concert to use 
their influence, learning, and wealth to so obscure 
in God's word the truth that our Lord commands 
every disciple to be immersed in his name, so that 
all common people may be for ever ignorant of 
this requirement of our Lord and Master. Now, 
therefore, our denomination is called on to let the 
light of truth on this subject shine as widely as 
possible. 

" So far as we can learn, there is but one senti- 
ment pervading the Baptists in America — that we 
must withdraw from the American Bible Society 
and labor separately. Our first meeting will take 
place this month at Hartford, in Connecticut. 

" You, our English brethren, have many trans- 
lations in the East, and we have but few. I hope, 
as our numerical strength so far exceeds yours, 
that our brethren will feel that the cause is one, 
and that we are willing to labor with you or you 
with us. I will not presume to suggest any mode 
in which we should unite, but leave it to wiser 



214 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



brethren. Yet I cannot but ardently hope that 
the Baptists of the two countries may be more 
united in feeling and labor than we have here- 
tofore been. 

" You will receive from our brethren many 
communications on the Bible question, with a 
copy of the resolution that has passed the Board. 
I have just sent a message to Brother S. H. Cone 
for a copy of our protest, to which he has replied 
that I shall have it in time to send by Brother 
Fuller. This document embodies the most weighty 
arguments that were urged before the Board. 

" I greatly fear this question will kindle a spirit 
of controversy in the land, but I pray that it may 
not. This is not the time for controversy, but for 
labor. We have the best cause in the world. I 
wish we may be wise and adorn it with a heaven- 
ly spirit, and show our opponents that we love 
them notwithstanding the errors they hold, and 
that we desire to set forth prominently God's 
truth in the spirit of the Master. But I hope 
the Lord will overrule this difference of our breth- 
ren to the furtherance of his truth and their good." 

As the result of this appeal the " Bible Trans- 
lation Society" of England was formed, and has 
continued its work to the present time. 



XII. 
A PURE BIBLE. 



XII. 

A PURE BIBLE. 

" The prophet that hath a dream let him tell a dream, and he 
that hath my word let him speak my word faithfully. What is 
the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord/' 

Some Baptists favoring a revision of the Eng- 
lish Scriptures wished to except from the rule of 
the exact translation Christ's commission. They 
urged that the people have become accustomed to 
the transfer, Baptists can continue to explain its 
meaning, the denomination has made good prog- 
ress with the Anglicised word, and some concession 
should be made for a common Bible. In addition 
to the discussions in regard to the revision of the 
English Scriptures by various Baptists, not sur- 
passed in ability by those of the Anglo-American 
movement, the following paper was submitted by 
William Colgate at the Thirteenth Anniversary 
of the American and Foreign Bible Society : 

"I am sorry that I am obliged to speak, but 
the circumstances in which I am placed as one of 
the earliest to introduce the subject of a revised 

19 217 



218 WILL I A M COL GA TE. 

version of the Scriptures in English, seem to de- 
mand that I should address this meeting. I have 
been astonished while sitting here to find our 
learned opponents using the same arguments and 
making similar remarks to those I heard when in 
the Board of the American Bible Society ; w r here, 
by the way, I will say, we were heard patiently 
and treated with all Christian courtesy during pro- 
longed debates. All the arguments I heard there, 
and which have been repeated here, were founded 
on expediency. The great principle of our duty 
to God in giving his oracles faithfully translated 
appeared to be forgotten, or was considered sub- 
ordinate to conciliating the prejudices in favor of 
the present version. 

"It has been observed here, 'See what this 
translation has done for the Baptists F but my 
limited knowledge of ecclesiastical history informs 
me that our denomination, by the civil and eccle- 
siastical powers combined, has been driven from 
every land except England, where we have been 
tolerated, and this land, where we now enjoy free- 
dom, and where we have increased and prospered 
notwithstanding the obscurities of the present ver- 
sion. Although I should feel more in my place to 
sit at the feet of the learned brethren before me 
to receive instruction, yet I feel that I am called 



A PURE BIBLE. 219 

upon to stand up for the millions of the common 
people, who like myself have received no more 
than an ordinary English education ; and as their 
representative I must say in relation to the much- 
controverted word baptism — the meaning of which 
no dictionary in common use gives us, although 
we are told by the learned that it is an English 
word — there are not more than thirty per cent, of 
the people who know that it signifies immersion ; 
and our credulity is too heavily taxed when we 
are told that it is necessary in a faithful trans- 
lation to change the preposition in water for with 
water. The most reflecting among us are led to 
question the truthfulness of a translation which 
requires such changes to make it plausible to the 
reader. Brethren, is it right in the sight of God, 
when we consider ourselves called upon, in the 
position his providence has assigned us, to give to 
the millions upon millions of our countrymen who 
like myself have received no more than a common 
education the word of God, that we should with- 
hold from them what is needful to a clear under- 
standing of their first duty to the Lord Jesus? 
If truthfulness demands that we should translate 
this word pour or sprinkle, let us do so, but let us 
never lend ourselves to obscure God's revelation 
to man. 



220 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

"Much has been said about this 'precious Bi- 
ble/ and an eminent scholar has lately informed 
us that this translation has ministered to the com- 
fort and consolation of our forefathers, both living 
and dying ; but if this consolation has been de- 
rived from its errors, it is a false one, but if from 
its truths, we wish not and intend not to remove 
or obscure one of them. Pagans, Mohammedans, 
and Papists have their consolations, but they are 
founded on error. A Christian's should be founded 
on truth alone. 

11 We have been charged with bringing forward 
this subject clandestinely ; but from the establish- 
ment of the Society, fourteen years ago, we have 
continued to speak and to publish our desire for a 
corrected version. We would not lend ourselves 
to the consecrating of error or ecclesiastical fraud, 
and thus make ourselves amenable to this statute 
of the Lord : ' If any man shall add unto these 
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that 
are written in this book ; and if any man shall 
take away from the words of this prophecy, God 
shall take away his part out of the book of life, 
and out of the holy city, and from the things 
which are written in this book.' ' 

Deacon Colgate closed by saying, " that as a 
plain man he had thirty- one plain questions for 



A PURE BIBLE. 221 

those Baptists who believe that the word ' baptize ' 
is sufficiently clear for the common people without 
translation — viz. : 

" 1. Why is the Greek word baptizo translated 
in the English classics, and transferred in the Eng- 
lish Scriptures ? 

"2. If baptize is an English word, how is it 
that the English dictionaries do not define its 
meaning ? 

" 3. Is it not cruel to the anxious inquirer after 
truth to withhold light upon it if it can be given ? 

"4. Is it right or wrong to translate this word? 

"5. If it be wrong to translate this word, how 
can it be right to translate any word ? 

"6. Is confusion or obscurity desirable on the 
meaning of this word more on than that of any 
others ? 

"7. If baptize be a plain English word, why 
so many volumes written, sermons preached, and 
years of labor employed to explain its meaning ? 

' " 8. If men feel it their duty to tell all men 
within the reach of their voice and of their writ- 
ings what this word means, why refuse to give 
the same meaning in the Bible ? 

" 9. How large a proportion of the Baptists 
themselves have to learn from their pastors that 
1 baptize ' means immerse I and ought they not to 

19* 



222 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

take their faith and practice from the Bible rather 
than from men f 

" 10. Why should not men learn this positive 
institution from the Bible ? 

11 11. If baptize be plain in Greek, why not 
make it plain in English ? 

"12. Are not millions on millions deceived in 
every age because this word is not translated ? 

"13. If baptize really means to dip or immerse, 
why not tell the masses of men so, and not make 
it necessary for them to go to a minister to in- 
quire ? 

" 14. Does it become Baptists to conceal the 
truth or to be accessory to its concealment? 

"15. Is it doing justice to the tens of thousands 
of Christians of other denominations to say that 
they would not obey Christ's command if they 
knew the real meaning of the word baptize? 

" 16. If it was ever right to translate this word, 
why is it not now, while millions are crying for the 
light ? Is it not treason to truth and the God of 
truth to refuse such translation? 

M 17. Is it constraint of conscience or the fear 
of men that hinders this translation ? 

" 18. If there were gain or glory in translating 
this word, would the same reasons operate against 
it which are now urged ? 



A PURE BIBLE. 223 

11 19. Is it to please God or men that you object 
to it? 

11 20. If we do not translate this word, will not 
all the world infer that its meaning is doubtful or 
that Baptists are insincere ? 

"21. Is it not wrong, on one side or the other, 
to translate for the heathen and not for our own 
people ? 

" 22. Can all the arts of sophistry disguise the 
human policy which lies hid under the objections 
to this translation ? 

"23. Rome hates the light, because it would re- 
veal her errors ; but shall Baptists fear it for the 
same reason? 

11 24. Baptists hold baptism to be a high command 
of their Lord and King. Is it consistent with in- 
tegrity to withhold a translation of that command 
from the millions who are ignorant of its true im- 
port ? 

" 25. If baptize is as plain as immerse, why so 
many attempts to prove its meaning by laborious 
arguments and abstract reasonings? 

"26. Who refuses to translate this word — the 
pastors or the people, the few or the many ? By 
whose authority or command — God's, who is light, 
or the advocates of darkness ? 

" 27. Why do faithful scholars proclaim the ne- 



224 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

cessity of its translation, and faithful pastors deny 
it? 

11 28. Is it not disloyal to Christ and a violence 
to truth to mystify his great commission to his dis- 
ciples ? To fear plainness of speech — is not this 
to impugn his wisdom and doubt his support? 

" 29. Good men are ruled by principle. What 
principle in the whole oracles of God forbids this 
translation ? 

" 30. Is policy or expediency, in questions of con- 
science, of right and wrong, a law that comes from 
heaven or from earth? If not from heaven, then, 
when the millions tell you that their cry is for 
light and truth, who refuses to tell them what 
baptize really and truly means? 

''31. If Baptists refuse to translate this word 
plainly, must they not cease for ever calling im- 
mersion an important ordinance, since they wilfully 
obscure the rite from the world?" 

Disaffected by the division in the Bible-work, 
many Baptists left the American and Foreign Bible 
Society, but refused to follow the new departure of 
the Bible Union. The former Society, however, con- 
tinued its agencies, and in addition to the distri- 
bution of English Scriptures has circulated faithful 
versions on mission-fields. 

Not less than eighty thousand dollars has been 



A PURE BIBLE. 225 

expended for Bible colportage through the German 
missions alone. But those chiefly instrumental in 
founding the American and Foreign Bible Society 
now resumed their original aim — the pure Bible 
for all languages including the English. 

To abandon this mission on account of division 
of counsels seemed to them as if Israel had turned 
back into Egypt and given up their promised in- 
heritance, because, on account of their disobedience, 
doomed to winder so long in the wilderness. 

Dr. T. Armitage described a scene of the delib- 
erations which led to the formation of the Bible 
Union : 

" I think it was about the last of May or the 
first of June, 1850, that I was invited by note to 
attend a meeting at No. 128 Chambers Street, 
called for the purpose of consultation among a few 
friends of the Bible as to present duty. The ex- 
citing and unfortunate anniversary of 1850 had 
been held, and the brethren had returned to their 
homes ; but, sir, they left the church enveloped in 
a pillar of cloud, without one ray from the pillar 
of fire. Nineteen persons had been invited to that 
conference. The day arrived, and, in a drenching 
rain, from different points in these three cities they 
came to the place of meeting. I never went to a 
meeting in my life with a heavier heart. The ark 

p 



226 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

of God was removed, and my heart trembled for 
it. Truth seemed to have fallen in the streets, 
and no triumphant assurance said, 'Though I fall, 
yet shall I rise again/ 

" We met, but oh, how we felt ! The moment 
the eyes of the more youthful pastors met your own 
each countenance seemed to ask, ' What shall we 
do V The moment one person took the hand of 
another a quivering lip interrogated, ' What does 
God require V 

"The meeting was called to order, and prayer 
to the Lord God of Sabaoth was proposed. Dea- 
con Colgate, as the eldest in the company, was 
called upon to address the throne of Grace. We 
kneeled down. Sir, if I were in that parlor, I 
could point you to the very spot on which I bowed. 
I can never forget it while I live. All was silent. 
The venerable man of God was too much overcome 
even to lead in devotion, but his emotion found 
vent in sobs and tears. And there, sir, the whole 
company knelt, weeping, for several minutes, in 
solemn silence before God, save as now and then 
some struggling sigh was heard. When he was 
able to offer vocal prayer he asked God to direct 
us aright ; if it were our duty to form another So- 
ciety, to give us a clear sense of duty and to open 
our way ; but if not, to permit confusion (hesitat- 



A PURE BIBLE. 227 

ingly), and to throw a hedge about us on every 
side, that the word of God might be magnified 
through this new trial. 

<; Few such prayer-meetings have ever occurred 
on earth. It was worthy to be compared w T ith 
that of the few students behind the haystack near 
Andover, consecrating themselves to foreign mis- 
sions, and forming resolutions that inaugurated 
American missions to the heathen. In watching, 
waiting, and prayerful expectancy it was like 
Christ's meeting with his disciples, imparting to 
them his last instructions and benediction before 
ascending into glory." 

The conclusion reached through earnest deliber- 
ations, continued from that time, was that a So- 
ciety should be founded to procure new versions 
of the Scriptures for the world, including English- 
speaking people. 

The following resolutions were accordingly 
passed : 

" Whereas, The mind and will of God, as con- 
veyed in the inspired originals of the Old and 
the New Testaments, are the only infallible stand- 
ard of faith and practice, and therefore it is of 
unspeakable importance that the Sacred Scriptures 
should be faithfully and accurately translated into 
every living language ; 



228 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

"And whereas, A Bible Society is bound by 
imperative duty to employ all the means in its 
power to ensure that the books which it circulates 
as the revealed will of God to man should be as 
free from error and obscurity as possible ; 

"And whereas, There is not now any general 
Bible Society in this country which has not more 
or less restricted itself by its own enactments from 
the discharge of its duty ; therefore 

"Resolved, That it is our duty to form a volun- 
tary association for the purpose of procuring and 
circulating the most faithful versions of the Sacred 
Scriptures in all languages. 

"Resolved, That in such association we will 
welcome all persons to co-operate with us who 
embrace the principle on which we propose to 
organize, without regard to their denominational 
predilections in other respects." 

What voluntary society has set forth a more 
catholic platform ? It is broad as the Bible. 
Cavillers at it must cavil at the supremacy of the 
Scriptures. 

An adjourned meeting was called for Friday, 
May 31, to receive the report of a committee ap- 
pointed to prepare a constitution and an address 
to the public. These were approved and ordered 
to be presented to a public meeting, June 10, in 



A PURE BIBLE. 229 

the Tabernacle Baptist Church. After devotional 
exercises, and remarks by Dr. Cone, an address to 
the public and a constitution were adopted. Un- 
der the constitution the following officers were 
elected: S. H. Cone, D.D., New York, President; 
Archibald Maclay, D. D., New York, Hon. Isaac 
Davis, Mass., Rev. W. C. Duncan, New Orleans, 
Wm, Crane, Maryland, George W. Eaton, D. D., 
New York, Hon. Theodore S. Warren, New Jer- 
sey, Rev. A. Wheelock, New York, Eli Kelley, 
Esq., New York, Vice-Presidents ; W. H. Wyc- 
koff, Corresponding Secretary ; E. S. Whitney, 
Recording Secretary ; William Colgate, Treasurer ; 
Sylvester Pier, Auditor. 

Though grieved and perplexed by the needless 
division of the denomination on the Bible ques- 
tion, Baptists throughout the country rallied in a 
considerable enthusiasm to the support of the new 
Society. Its funds increased rapidly. And at 
once the issue was made upon English revision. 

The Seventh Anniversary of the American Bi- 
ble Union was one of the most memorable in its 
history. In one of the conferences Deacon Wil- 
liam Colgate arose, and from an overflowing heart 
expressed the following sentiments : 

"In 1835, when I was in the American Bible 

Society, I was convinced of the importance of re- 
20 



230 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

vision. That conviction has never changed nor 
been altered by any argument that I have ever 
heard presented. And I presume the most cogent 
and forcible arguments against this work I have 
weighed and studied. When in the course of 
time it was thought proper to form the Bible 
Union, I cheerfully entered upon the work, joined 
my brethren in the organization, and have been 
with them until this time as a member of the 
Board. I thought it would meet with great oppo- 
sition at first, but I did not think it would be so 
fierce. People have made more noise and said 
more against it than I expected. I could not 
think that brethren who should have been able 
thoroughly to appreciate the importance of hav- 
ing the word of God faithfully translated from the 
dead to the living languages of this world, would 
have arrayed themselves in opposition to this 
movement. When we commenced it was with 
the greatest pleasure that I engaged in it, for I 
thought it was destined to do great good. When 
doubts arose in the minds of some valued breth- 
ren as to whether we were pursuing the great 
work in the best way and at the best time, I 
wished with all sincerity to consider their doubts ; 
I tried to turn them over in my plain w T ay of 
thinking ; I reverted to all the arguments I had 



A PURE BIBLE. 231 

ever heard ; and I was struck with one thing 
above all others : I could not recollect one single 
passage of Scripture that its opponents had ever 
used against the great and holy work in which we 
are employed — not one, though the objectors were 
all religious persons. 

1 ■ Another thing I observed : in all the prayers 
I have ever heard, and from all the brethren 
whose remarks I have ever listened to, in all the 
churches that were opposed to it, in all the distress 
of mind that men had because such a thing was 
started, I never heard of a man who went, upon 
his knees to pray to God against it. Then I 
thought, When there is no Scripture against it, 
when there is no prayer against it, and it is a re- 
ligious movement, it cannot all be wrong. 

''Differences of opinion arose among brethren 
that I love, brethren that I have walked with in 
Christian fellowship, brethren on both sides that I 
respect, — differences of opinion arose among them, 
and some hard words, which I could wish for- 
gotten, were uttered. The best of brethren, you 
know, will differ in opinion. Well, one said, ' Is 
there not too much money expended? Will it 
not cost too much? Might we not procure a 
faithful revision of the Bible for less money ?' 
When this was asked, I tried to give it an im- 



232 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

partial consideration — to look at it coolly, calmly, 
and dispassionately. 'Too much money/ 1 I once 
knew a congregation who were going to build a 
church, up town worth one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. This is a noble offering, I thought, if breth- 
ren can afford it. But I said, ' Which would de- 
light more the angels of God, that splendid church, 
or an institution like ours whose great aim is to 
make men understand God's word?' 

"Another thought struck me, 'What evil are 
we going to do ? Shall we make people read the 
Bible less ?' I was obliged to answer the question 
in my own mind thus : ' Those who have never 
read the Bible and who are ignorant of its great 
truths, and also those among whom our revision 
movements have been productive of much contro- 
versy, will read it, and in this way the influence 
of the Bible will be extended tenfold.' 

" One thing has distressed me and caused me 
many wakeful nights. I heard it said by some 
good brethren that we were not going to obtain 
such a revision as we needed, but that it would 
contain, after all, a great many errors. Some im- 
portant truths even, it was said, were not going 
to be brought out. * Well.' I replied, 'suppose it 
is so — admit that what should have been fully ac- 
complished is only partly done — what ought we to 



A PURE BIBLE. 233 

do in such a case ? Shall we give up the work ?' 
(Several members, 'No! no F) 'Shall we give it 
up V (Renewed cries of ' No ! no F) 

"A question which the Lord once put to his 
disciples has occurred to me. When many turned 
aside, he said, 'Will ye also go away?' and they 
replied, ' To whom shall we go ?' If this Bible 
Union don't succeed, where is there a hope of ever 
carrying out this great object? Will it be done 
in this century? Won't everybody say if this 
effort fail, ' There is no use in trying further ?' 

" The work of the American Bible Union must 
go forward. It is one in which the greatest inter- 
ests of the human race are involved, and the ac- 
complishment of which will make the people of 
our King rejoice. Every effort which has been 
made for the dissemination of the religion of our 
Saviour has met with opposition from the world. 
When he came upon the earth the learned men, 
the Pharisees, those who were considered the 
greatest geniuses of their time, proscribed him. 
And were not the apostles themselves treated in 
the same manner ? We, who have contended for 
the pure word of the Lord in every age and place, 
have met with opposition, and the greatest efforts 
have been made to put us down. And now the 

great men, the learned men, it is said, don't ap- 
20 * 



234 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

prove of our movement. But ought we to wait 
until we get their favor and sanction? Why, 
when the blessed Jesus was born into the world 
no messengers were sent to tell the mighty poten- 
tates of earth, as when a prince is born in Europe 
at the present day. No news was sent to the 
Pharisees and the great men of Judsea that a 
Saviour had come into the world, but angels 
came to announce the good news to the poor 
shepherds who were tending their flocks. And 
so now we must not wait for the praise or coun- 
tenance of the world for our efforts in religious 
matters ; we must not wait for the approbation of 
the great or the learned ; we must do what God 
commands ; we must make his word plain. We 
must go forward. We must do our best to break 
down superstition and prejudice, depending for 
co-operation upon those who love the truth till the 
work is done. 

11 1 rejoice at what has been done, and that we 
are making good progress. If brethren say to 
me the work is not done perfectly right, I ask, 
' Where is the man that does right?' If they say 
the prospect is not encouraging, I reply, ' I see 
nothing to dishearten us.' We are doing a great 
work. And even the brethren themselves who 
say that our progress does not meet their expecta- 



A PURE BIBLE. 235 

tions must admit that it is better to progress in 
the best way we can than to stop where we are 
after we have already done so much. 

" I do not know, and I cannot see, how we can 
do better than we are doing. The work is longer 
and is more expensive than I expected it would 
be. But King Jesus is at the head, and he is the 
greatest King that ever was. There are more 
now ready to suffer for him than for any other 
king, and they are willing to sacrifice everything 
to make his word plain." 

The forecast of the projectors of the Baptist 
Bible movement is now acknowledged by the 
Anglo-American revision and the increasing de- 
mand for accurate versions throughout the world. 
The duty of giving the Bible to the masses is the 
duty to give it clearly translated. Suppression of 
the word of God, especially of the terms of dis- 
cipleship to Christ, William Colgate regarded as 
unfaithfulness both to God and man. If the 
order of Christ's church can be ignored in Bible 
translation for the sake of economy and peace, for 
the same reason it might be in the pulpit, the 
creed, the journal, the theological school, and in 
all Christian missions. Suppression or obscuration 
of the Old Testament would be a less evil than 
that of the New ; of chapters of the Gospels and 



236 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Epistles than of the precepts of Christ and the 
terms of discipleship to him. Only by appeal from 
traditions and compromise Bibles to the original 
Scriptures as the sole and sufficient standard of 
faith and practice can any basis be formed for the 
reunion of the divided church of Christ. The stra- 
tegic point for all who are seeking the restoration 
of Christ's lordship and church is a pure Bible. 

Deacon Colgate clearly saw this, and declared 
that he was a Baptist only because the Bible 
made him one. While many do not see the sun 
until it is in its meridian, and mope in the dark- 
ness of conservatism as the owl in the night, he 
faced the rising sun and stood on tiptoe on the 
mountain-top gilded by its first beams, and wel- 
comed with the lark the coming day. We will 
not blame the owl if the owl will not chide the 
lark. Men of forecast and convictions have 
founded Baptist churches, institutions, and mis- 
sions. Wary and conservative men have built 
on foundations they would never have laid, and 
adorned temples they would never have reared. 
A short time before his death Mr. Colgate said 
to Dr. Armitage : 

11 The securing of a faithful revision of the 
English Bible for the common people has been 
for many years an object as dear to me as life. 



A PURE BIBLE. 237 

I have confidence that the Bible Union will do 
the work, and believe the measures we have 
adopted are calculated to accomplish it. 

" Guard against debt, and let the work be well 
done. Move slowly ; do not be in haste. It is 
a great work. Get the best scholars, and let 
them have time to do it well. Those who are 
not familiar with the difficulties may be impatient 
at the delay ; but God always takes time for a 
great work, and this is his cause. 

11 Do not follow the lights of expediency. Ex- 
pediency will never satisfy the churches. It would 
be acknowledging that King Jesus made a mis- 
take in enforcing rigid obedience to his command. 
There is expediency in the world popularly called 
charity, but it never amounts to anything. Ex- 
perience has taught me that when I have leaned 
to such expediency I have, come out wrong in the 
end. But when I have followed a ' Thus saith the 
Lord ' all has come out right. % 

" I wanted to say this to you, for my work is 
done. It is not likely that I shall meet with you 
again. I am ready to go. May God bless you ! 
You may be sure that he will reward you, and 
the w r orld one day will thank you too." 

The following tribute was offered upon the oc- 
casion of Deacon Colgate's death : 



238 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

"The officers and managers of the American 
Bible Union, assembled to take some action in ref- 
erence to the death of Deacon Colgate, ordered the 
following record : 

" ' Our venerable brother, Deacon William Col- 
gate, after a life of toil and benevolence, of faith 
and love and patience, has been called home to 
his reward. In his death the American Bible 
Union has sustained the loss of a warm and de- 
voted friend, a kind and courteous associate, a 
prudent manager, and a judicious counsellor. His 
name will always be intimately associated with 
the institution as one of the four who called 
its first preliminary meeting, and the one whose 
house was offered and accepted for the incipient 
organization ; as its first treasurer, and a vice- 
president and manager till the day of his death. 

11 ; His brief and sententious addresses at the 
anniversaries of the Union have been most ex- 
tensively circulated in the form of tracts, and 
have done great good by their simplicity and 
sound common sense. In all the proceedings of 
the Board and the Union he was the consistent 
advocate of the claims of the common people for 
the plain and faithful rendering of every word 
of the divine originals of the Sacred Scriptures. 
Therefore, 



A PURE BIBLE. 239 

11 'Resolved, That in the life and death of our 
brother we have an eminent example of the wide- 
spread influence and usefulness of one man acting 
on behalf of a great principle ; and that we have 
abundant reasons to thank God that such a man 
lived and acted in the present age, and aided by 
his reputation, his personal efforts, and his con- 
tributions to found and promote an enterprise so 
eminently adapted for usefulness, so signally heard 
by God, as the American Bible Union. 

" 'Hesolved, That the loss sustained in his de- 
cease is measurably repaid by the eloquent mem- 
ory of his life of usefulness and a death-bed of 
Christian triumph, and the lasting influence of 
his name associated with the Bible Union as the 
friend and advocate of a pure and faithful ver- 
sion of the English Scriptures for the common 
people/ " 



XIII. 
CHARACTER. 

21 Q 



XIII. 

CHARACTER. 

" Without God there was no man ever good." 

" Some persons in their mien and aspect, as well as in the habit 
of life, show a signature and stamp of virtue." 

" A Christian is the highest style of man." 

A true man is God's best gift to any land or 
age. Through perversion of manhood, empire and 
arts decay. A feeble race relapses into barbarism. 
Advantages of climate, soil, wealth, arts, ancestral 
glory, and religious traditions are sacrificed to the 
baseness of man. Only through his elevation can 
civilization be perfected. Exalted personal cha- 
racter is the high table-land whence descend the 
various rills of virtue, uniting in the ever-broaden- 
ing and deepening stream of social progress. 

A brave people transforms mountain-wastes into 
a home of freedom. The Alps were made a cit- 
adel of liberty by the heroic Swiss, and the Bal- 
kans by hardy Montenegrins. Inhospitable New 

243 



244 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

England was opened as an abode of plenty and 
peace by the indomitable Puritans. Western 
prairies are adorned with farm-house, town, and 
city by a strong yeomanry. Manufactures and 
commerce are built up by industrial enterprise. 
The Republic can preserve and perfect its institu- 
tions and civilization only through exalted man- 
hood. As there is nothing great in the world but 
man, there is nothing truly great in man but cha- 
racter. 

Character is formed by voluntary subjection to 
that law " whose seat is the bosom of God, and 
whose voice is the harmony of the universe. " 
That law is articulated through intuitive convic- 
tions or sacred beliefs. Man feels amenable to 
these in the domain of morals, as to physical laws 
in the realm of matter. He follows them as con- 
fidingly as a traveller the beaten highway. The 
forces of motive and will run through their groove 
as uniformly as the railroad-train on the undeviat- 
ing track. His pursuit and destiny are held by 
them as inevitably as the planets in their orbits. 

Nor should the restraint of these sacred beliefs 
be any more complained of than the coercion of 
other forces, material or moral. We do not object 
to the restrictive order of starry worlds, forbidden 
to wander in uncertain paths through space ; or 



CHARACTER. 245 

of the railroad- trains /denied the liberty of seeking 
ways across prairie or continent ; or of the state, 
enforcing constitutional limitations upon the free- 
dom of citizens ; or of the family, fettering the free- 
dom of the affections and intercourse of society. 
Why, then, should we question the reign of law in 
the realm of duty and destiny ? Why, then, do 
we condemn as irrational the restraints which re- 
ligion enforces ? Why do we allege that Chris- 
tianity, in enjoining terms of discipleship and con- 
ditions of salvation, interferes with natural lib- 
erty ? Man was made to be subject to moral as 
well as material law, and moral law no more 
degrades or enslaves him than does the law of 
gravitation, the order of the seasons, or condi- 
tions of soil or climate. It is as abnormal in 
man to antagonize his spiritual as his physical 
environment. 

There is no more mischievous sophistry than 
that which teaches that all sacred beliefs are 
narrowing ; that on]y he who frees himself from 
them is broad — only he who tolerates all beliefs, 
because he has none, is liberal ; that only he is 
progressive who, discarding the formulated thought 
and revelations of ages, binds his faith to the 
latest hypothesis ; that he alone is wise who is 
agnostic, boasting that nothing can be known. 
21* 



246 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Such agnosticism denies thS testimony of con- 
sciousness, without which no truth can be dem- 
onstrated, no science exist. It makes truth and 
duty uncertain and delusive distinctions ; sacred 
beliefs and sentiments an illusive and obstructive 
fanaticism ; immortality a mocking dream ; and 
launches the bark of childhood on the sea of life 
without chart or compass, helm or destined port, 
to glide with casual currents, be driven by un- 
certain storms, and wrecked on unknown shores, 
or disappear for ever as the transient bubble on 
the crest of the wandering wave. 

The virtues of exalted character can no more 
be expected from unsettled faith than fruit in 
autumn from a tree whose roots are frequently 
disturbed through the summer. As well expect 
flowers to bloom over the ever-shifting surface 
of the Sahara as social and moral beauty over 
the arid wastes of scepticism. Only uncertain 
character is the outgrowth of unsettled faith ; 
weak character, of superstition ; while symmet- 
rical and strong character is nurtured only by 
defined sacred beliefs. The highest type of such 
beliefs is produced by Christianity, the final in- 
terpretation of the divine law. 

The effects of these sacred beliefs on the cha- 
racter of the subject of this Memoir may be dis- 



CHARACTER, 247 

tinctly traced. William Colgate pursued business 
as a steward of God. He was free from those 
temptations to avarice and fraud besetting the 
servant usurping his master's posessions. His 
secular life was elevated by a high sense of duty 
above the baser motives, maxims, and methods 
of trade. His industry was consecration, and his 
work, worship. 

" Rarely have I met," says Professor Harvey, 
" one in whom religion had become so thoroughly 
incorporated, and, if I may so speak, naturalized 
as an ever-present power. While not slothful in 
business, and incessant in his devotion to it, he 
was also fervent in spirit, serving the Lord ; and 
few men have so perfectly learned the secret of 
' worship in work.' His business was prosecuted 
as God's business, and it never seemed to require 
an effort on his part to turn from it and engage in 
prayer or religious conversation ; but he appeared 
ever to be in the Spirit, living in the sight of 
spiritual realities. In my last conversation with 
him, not long before he entered into rest, in speak- 
ing of his approaching change and of the future, 
there was the same perfect naturalness of manner 
as when speaking on ordinary subjects. Too 
many are enslaved by the habits which gained 
their fortunes, and are left at the close of life 



248 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

without intellectual or spiritual enjoyments. They 
have no strength for business, and no relish for 
culture or piety. Deacon Colgate made the world, 
not his master, but his servant. When bidden 
he cheerfully left it, and into the evening of life, 
gilded with peace, serenely descended, closing a 
long business-career in the metropolis of the coun- 
try without failure in contract, or forfeiture of 
credit, or imputation of fraud. This conferred a 
prouder distinction than laurel-wreath to Greek 
artist ; triumphal procession to Roman hero ; or 
statue, column, or arch to illustrious citizen. 1 ' 

The Christian merchant ranks in nobleness of 
character with Christian minister and missionary. 
His example may be as beneficent and farther- 
reaching than theirs. 

His benevolence was a religious conviction ; it 
reduced his charities to system, made them a 
means of self-culture and an homage to God. 
One who through miserly greed gives nothing 
seems baser than animal races that serve their 
fellows and their superiors. One dispensing with- 
out purpose or proportion rises in the dignity of 
his gifts hardly above birds warbling melodies or 
flowers exhaling fragrance for casual wayfarers. 
Only one recognizing stewardship to God, in trusts 
of wealth as in talent, rises to higher manhood 



CHARACTER. 249. 

through his giving. Capricious "charities" neither 
form nor confirm any virtuous habit or character. 

William Colgate's devotion to his parents in 
their misfortunes, and, soon after coming to New 
York, his giving half he had in a missionary col- 
lection, disclose the principle and enthusiasm of 
true benevolence. "He was," says Rev. George 
Hatt, who was intimate with his Christian life, 
" a friend of the poor. The poor minister found 
in him a friend indeed. The cheque silently left 
in the hand at parting told, more eloquently than 
words, his sympathy for God's suffering servants. 
Frequently he would ask me what I knew of the 
circumstances of A or B, and when satisfied he 
sent relief." 

On one occasion the wife of a needy disciple, 
on receiving a cheque for a hundred dollars, ex- 
claimed with tearful gratitude, "What hath God 
wrought!" Giving to many objects regularly, 
and increasing his benefactions with the increase 
of wealth, he did not need to compensate for life- 
long neglect by various large bequests. He who 
reserves accumulating wealth, in order to found 
some charity, is liable to the charge of personal 
ambition, and of giving because he is no longer 
able to retain; and is also in danger of entailing 
upon his heirs bitter feuds and costly litigations. 



250 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Charitable corporations may covet and praise post- 
humous gifts ; but beneficence, manifested through 
a long life and carefully apportioned to claims, 
sets a worthier example and attests a nobler cha- 
racter than charitable endowments, however mag- 
nificent, at the close of life. Benevolence, the 
crowning attribute of Deity, developed and adorn- 
ed the character of the subject of this Memoir. 

Observing the Lord's Day as a holy day further 
moulded the character of William Colgate. Those 
ignoring the divine rest bear a stamp of world- 
liness, if not of wickedness. Dividing its leis- 
ure between recreation and worship, they attain 
but an uncertain piety. Only those devoting it 
wholly to spiritual culture attain to the highest 
character and usefulness. The late Premier of 
England in the House of Lords articulates the 
testimony of Christendom: "Of all divine insti- 
tutions, the most divine is that which secures a 
day of rest for man ; I hold it to be the most 
valuable blessing ever conceded to man. It is the 
corner-stone of civilization, and its removal might 
even effect the health of the people." 

In a letter to his father in 1808, Mr. Colgate 
disclosed his views of the sacred day, which he 
cherished to the last : 

"I have been closely confined to business, and 



CHARACTER. 251 

generally until late at night, having, further, some 
lengthy visits to receive and pay to our new Bap- 
tist brethren, so I wrote you in a hurry such things 
as first came in my mind. 

" On the Lord's Day I might, indeed, have 
written to you upon such matters as concerned 
the souls of your children ; but I could not with 
propriety have written on other affairs, as my 
prayer to God is that through divine assistance I 
may withdraw my thoughts from all below, save 
such as concern our souls, whose duration is 
eternal.' ' 

The seventh part of time is the smallest portion 
that will suffice for spiritual culture. It is needed 
as a relief from the strain of week-day temptations, 
as a prolonged hour of prayer, a period consecrated 
to the study of problems of duty and destiny, and 
to communion with God and the spiritual world. It 
is a symbol and prophecy of the everlasting rest 
awaiting the pilgrim church, a vestibule to the 
temple of blessed immortality. The aroma of its 
sacred observance pervades the home, the social 
circle, and the counting-house during all the days 
of the week. 

As the moral distinction of the Jews, the Scotch, 
the New Englanders, has been due to the strict 
observance of the sacred day, and as leaders of 



/ 



252 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

the kingdom of God throughout Christendom now 
observe it with jealous care, so William Colgate, 
through sacred use of the day, attained elevation 
of thought and character, and the higher and 
holier rest that remaineth for the people of God, 
and joined the w r orship of angels and the redeem- 
ed in the everlasting assembly in heaven. 

Another conviction, moulding his character, was 
the divine authority of the Bible. He honored it 
as the handwriting of his Heavenly Father, and 
read it with the dutiful affection of a son studying 
the written counsels of a sainted mother. It was 
a light to his path, the sweetest relish to his 
spiritual taste, and a treasure more precious than 
"pure gold. 1 ' It was profitable for doctrine, re- 
proof, and instruction in righteousness. So that 
he strove to be " perfect in every good word and 
work, wanting nothing." 

As the Bible has elevated Protestant above Ro- 
man Catholic nations, so it exalts individuals who 
make it the standard of their conscience, conduct, 
and character. Holding intercourse with prophets, 
our Lord, and his apostles through the constant 
study of its pages, he was transformed into their 
image. 

Mr. Colgate's character was further developed 
by the consecration of prayer. Faith in the Su- 



CHARACTER. 253 

preme Being is one of the greatest acts of the soul, 
affecting both its conduct and destiny. But be- 
lieving prayer is a still more comprehensive and 
effective act. After his conversion his life seem- 
ed a perpetual and ardent aspiration to heaven. 
His virtues were inspired and his character trans- 
figured by prayer in the closet, the family, and in 
the social meeting. No difficulties interrupted its 
various observance. More than forty years ago, 
to escape the ravages of the cholera, he removed 
his family to a large farm-house in the country. 
In his hired apartments he set up the family altar, 
and invited the family of his host to join in the 
service. The example and impression of that 
daily worship were the means of the conversion 
of that numerous household. A few years ago a 
middle-aged gentleman sought out a son of the 
subject of this Memoir and reported this result. 
When the Christian family left them at the close 
of the summer, they missed the holy service ; and 
first father, then mother, and at length all of a 
family of thirteen, were led to Christ and united 
with the church, tracing their religious experience 
to that observance of family worship. His appre- 
ciation of prayer continued, and increased to the 
last. During his last sickness, when, on account 
of extreme weakness, well-known Baptist min- 

22 



254 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

isters, esteemed members of the church, and even 
family friends, were not admitted to his chamber, 
one was announced, distinguished by the faith 
and fervency of his prayers. Immediately he 
roused himself from a paroxysm of pain and said, 
"Let him come in; he is one of the praying 
kind." 

The reflex influence of prayer arises from the 
soul's conscious devotion in it to the will of God. 
It not only acquiesces in that will, but earnestly 
trusts to accomplish it. It seeks c< first the king- 
dom of God. Hence, regeneration, repentance, 
and all Christian experience are inseparable from 
prayer. As the beauty and fragrance of the 
flower are developed through untraced processes, 
so all Christian virtues must be nourished in the 
soul consciously retiring from the world and com- 
muning with God alone. 

Prayer is ignorance shrouded in darkness seek- 
ing light from the Source of all wisdom. It is 
conscious weakness appealing to Omnipotence for 
succor ; it is sorrow seeking solace from infinite 
compassion ; it is penitence imploring forgiveness 
of divine mercy ; it is man wandering in gloomy 
uncertainty asking the way of salvation ; it is 
imperfection longing for perfected being and des- 
tiny ; it is mortality seeking through the grave a 



CHARACTER. 255 

portal to immortality. Through prayer William 
Colgate realized Abraham's life of faith, Enoch's 
walk with God. 

Mr. Colgate's character was rounded to perfec- 
tion through the assimilating influence of the order 
and discipline of Christ's church. Man needs 
some external standard of spiritual doctrine, duty, 
and discipline. Consciousness of the necessity has 
made him an easy dupe of imposture and des- 
potism. 

Only some higher sovereignty can overthrow 
the spiritual despotisms under which humanity 
groans. Those spurning all moral subjection fall 
into errors more hurtful than superstition. Christ's 
church was designed to supersede spiritual hier- 
archies, not by any uncertain jurisdiction, but by 
constitutional court and executive of the kingdom 
of heaven. The sovereignty, discipline, and fel- 
lowship of that institution are as exclusive as 
those of the family or state. Tampering with its 
authority and laws may, be as destructive of spirit- 
ual discipline as discrediting the family is of do- 
mestic peace and virtue. Christ's church is a 
school of religious knowledge, a brotherhood of 
mutual helpfulness, a court of spiritual discipline. 
It is the only authorized jurisdiction of Christ's 
kingdom on earth. Amenability to it is the en- 



256 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

nobling necessity of all ; impatience of it man- 
ifests conceit, pride, prejudice, as well as impiety. 
To this instituted kingdom of Christ, Mr. Col- 
gate was devoted with all the truthfulness, loyalty, 
and chivalry of his nature. He could not counte- 
nance any rival spiritual jurisdiction. He would 
guard the exclusiveness of its sovereignty by the 
exclusiveness of its fellowship. He believed with 
Gill, that infant baptism, doing away with the 
voluntary and spiritual character of the church, 
is a "part and pillar of Popery;" agreed with 
Spurgeon, that " Pedobaptism is a flank movement 
through Ritualism upon the Protestant position ;" 
and appreciated the conscience of Judson and Noel 
in sacrificing sacred associations and traditions to 
vindicate the order of Christ's church. 

Such were the sacred beliefs which governed the 
life and moulded the character of William Colgate. 
These were the principles he lived by ; the groove 
in which the forces of his being ran ; the scaffold- 
ing from which his character was built up ; the 
soil from which ripened the fruitage of his useful 
life ; the rests in the scale which produced all the 
harmonies of his virtues ; the lens which daguerre- 
otyped the image of noble manhood which we con- 
template in him. As Christian beliefs are the 
highest order of sacred convictions, Christian w- 



CHARACTER, 257 

tues outrank the virtues of all other faiths. 
While Buddhism menaces degradation to lower 
and lower types of being, and whispers but a for- 
lorn hope of the bliss of annihilation to its most 
zealous votaries, Christianity promises exalted cha- 
racter and destiny to all sincere believers. It not 
only creates a roll of the greatest heroes the world 
has seen, but assures glorious immortality to believ- 
ing generations. Made a new creature in Christ, 
and inspired by his teachings, William Colgate 
grew up in him in all things "who is the head, the 
first-born," of all true spiritual beings. As an heir 
of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ through 
spiritual birth, he looked with ever-growing assur- 
ance for the heavenly inheritance. After the 
material environment of his being should be re- 
moved, he believed that a spiritual body remained 
as an abode for the soul regenerated and glorified 
to dwell amid the glories and worship in the tem- 
-ple of God for ever. He rose before the world 
to the rank of prophets, apostles, and martyrs, 
transformed into the image ' of Christ from glory 
to glory. 

22* B, 



XIV. 
THE TRANSLATION. 

259 



XIV. 

THE TRANSLATION. 

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints/' 

" Soul of the just, companion of the dead ! 
Where art thou ? whither hast thou lied ?" 

We follow Moses from Egypt through the wil- 
derness till, at the end of forty years, from the 
mountains of Moab, where he was to be buried, 
he gazed with transporting vision across the Jor- 
dan upon the Promised Land. 

So we have traced the life of William Colgate 
from his childhood's home in England across the 
sea, his sojourn in Baltimore, and his history of 
more than fifty years in New York, till, at the 
age of threescore and ten, he reached the mystic 
Jordan, beyond which lies the inheritance of 
earth's pilgrims. During his life in New York 
it had increased from fifty thousand to half a 
million, become the metropolis of the Western 
Hemisphere and a mart of the world's commerce. 
His life of faith had proclaimed to all that he 

261 



262 WILLIAM -COLGATE. 

sought a better " city that hath foundations, 
whose builder and maker is God." His business 
career was now finished and crowned with honor. 
His Christian stewardship was closed and its ac- 
counts balanced for the last judgment. 

The disease of which he died had lingered in 
his constitution two years, but assumed a violent 
form a few weeks before his death. A surgical 
operation afforded but temporary relief. The more 
excruciating sufferings which followed were en- 
dured with Christian patience. In a paroxysm 
of pain he exclaimed, 

"Oh, why must I suffer this? I cannot tell 
— it is dreadful — but the Master knows ; he 
knows, and it is all right. It is to wean me 
from you," he added, addressing his children; "it 
is to wean me from the world and prepare me 
for a better country." 

At a time when suffering intensely he was 
troubled that his mind wandered from its spirit- 
ual concerns, and in an interval between his pains 
he said, 

"You see now how unfit I am to settle the 
affairs of the soul. How strange it is that any 
can delay the preparation for death till they come 
to the bed of pain ! How ungrateful to God to 
let go the time of health without answering his 



THE TRANSLATION. 263 

demands, and yield to liim nothing but sick-bed, 
broken thoughts ! How strange that men will 
not bow to God before he breaks them down by 
sickness and death ! Thanks to the Lord, who 
led me to think of him before my flesh failed 
me ! What folly to put off repentance to a dicing 
bed ! for who knows what anguish may distract 
the mind and keep it from rising above its pains ?" 
Often after paroxysms of suffering he would 
cheer himself by singing, in a clear and strong 
voice, some favorite hymn, as 

" Salvation ! oh, the joyful sound ! 
Tis pleasure to our ears." 

He would also recall the promise of heaven : 

",Oh, how blessed it must be in heaven with 
Jesus ! What a happy place ! What a joy to 
be where there is no suffering !" 

A short time before his death he said to his 
family, " Trust in the Lord, and remember how 
death brings you face to face with the life you 
Jive. 

At another time he said to one of his children, 
" Trust in the Lord first of all things, and seek 
his will. If I were able I would blot out every 
scrap of my life not devoted to the Lord and to 
his cause.' ' 



264 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Having surrendered all worldly trusts to the 
divine providence, he tenderly committed his 
children to their heavenly Father : 

" Lord, thine aged servant will soon depart. 
Bless and watch over his children. Teach them 
to love each other, and forgive all they have done 
which is wrong in thy sight. May they read thy 
holy word prayerfully, and learn the atonement 
of Christ. Wilt thou fix every heart, keep every 
affection, and lead them into every truth ; not for 
their sake, but for the sake of Jesus Christ ; and 
thine shall be the glory for ever. Amen." 

His patriarchal prayer recalls the intercession of 
Job for his sons and daughters, that they might not 
be beguiled by prosperity into forgetfulness of God. 

In a momentary obscuration of faith, when the 
sun hid behind the clouds, musing upon the awful 
possibility of being mistaken in the grounds of his 
trust, as Paul shuddered lest, after preaching the 
gospel to others, he himself should be a castaway, 
he exclaimed in deep emotion, as if waves and 
billows of doubts and fears were overwhelming 
him, 

"Cast out! cast out! Oh no; he will give 
me a long life of praise to my Jesus, who was, 
and is, and is to come. Lord, accept my 
feeble prayer; do not leave me nor forsake me." 



THE TRANSLATION. 265 

He often said, "I am ready for God's will; I 
am ready and willing to die." To his daughter 
he said, contemplating the end, "Do not mourn 
for me. Why should you ? I shall be at rest. 
Think of it! an eternity with Christ!" 

On the Sunday preceding his death, as the first 
beams of the morning were filtered through the 
blinds, lighting up the dying chamber, with pleas- 
ure he said, " Oh, heavenly light! the work of a 
pure Creator. Let in the light of heaven. Put 
down the gas, the little work of man. Oh, bless- 
ed light ! Oh, blessed Lord ! Oh, blessed Sab- 
bath morning! Oh, blessed Bible! 01), blessed 
promises scattered through that Bible ! Oh, bless- 
ed salvation as brought to us in that Bible !" 

Wednesday evening, just before his death, he 
exclaimed, " Oh, I am so happy ! I never felt so 
happy in my life. I love Jesus so." 

In answer to the question, " Have you not al- 
ways loved Jesus?" he said, " Oh yes; I have 
adored him, but I never loved him as I do now, 
with all my heart and soul, might, mind, and 
strength. Oh, do kneel down and offer thanks 
for this revelation !" 

A few moments after his pastor, Dr. Lathrop, 
left him, he opened his eyes for the last time and 
exclaimed, " My precious Jesus !" and lifting both 

2'S 



266 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Lands above his breast, he floated them up little 
by little, as following an ascending angel, and then 
slowly dropped and folded them on hie breast. 
Thus expired, on the 25th of March, 1857, at the 
age of seventy-four, this loving father, honest mer- 
chant, upright citizen, and faithful Christian. 

His pastor preached the funeral sermon from 
the words found in the Acts (xiii. 36) : " For David, 
after he had served his own generation by the will 
of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers." 

The large church could not hold the vast con- 
course of men of all creeds, citizens of all parties, 
the rich and the poor alike, who gathered on the 
occasion. Half the gallery was filled by his em- 
ployees, who offered a tearful tribute to their 
friend and benefactor. 

Since William Colgate came as a young man to 
New York, Greenwood had been opened. Of all 
the cities of the dead in this country, this ceme- 
tery has the most commanding site and the most 
costly appointments. It overlooks the metropolis 
and its suburbs, far as Westchester on the north ; 
Jersey City Heights and the Orange Mountains to 
the west ; Long Island and the Sound to the east ; 
and New York Bay, leading into the Narrows 
and the wide sea, to the south. 

The remains of William Colgate were borne 



THE TRANSLATION. 267 

through its gateway to their last resting-place, fol- 
lowed only by his kindred, while the bell tolled 
out their ineffable sorrow. Ah ! what myriad 
heartaches seeking solace in enforced silence ; 
what half-suppressed sighs and groans breaking 
on the still air ; what burning tears of anguish 
falling to the ground ; what gloom of despair, 
quenching the light of hope, — does that bell tell 
as it tolls hour after hour, through the week, the 
month, the year, while the funereal processions 
pass by ! The trees seem conscious of the solem- 
nity of the perpetual pageant of mourning, and, 
with the myriad memorials rising over the graves, 
keep watch over the countless dead. 

There a towering shaft, with appropriate inscrip- 
tions and symbols, celebrates the courage of fire- 
men hazarding life to rescue the property and 
lives of others from a spreading conflagration. 
There rises conspicuously a monument to brave 
seamen who perished in the struggle to save im- 
perilled voyagers, cargo, and ship from the whelm- 
ing sea. Farther on, through a vista opening in 
the deep green^ appears on lofty pedestal a me- 
morial to soldiers who fell in defence of the flag 
and the honor of their country. Rising over a 
gentle slope in another direction is seen sculptured 
urn or tablet erected to scholar, statesman, or 



268 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

benefactor. Costly tombs of the rich or humble 
slabs of the poor meet the eye at every turn. 
The bending willow, the broken branch and fall- 
ing buds, the truncated shaft, the reversed torch, 
the sleeping lamb, the watching angel, the brief 
couplet, the Scripture promise, the hallowed words 
of love sculptured over a thousand graves, make 
the cemetery a mount of transfiguration. 

The thoughtful observer is wrapt in contem- 
plations of the spiritual world. Tears flow un- 
bidden. The heart throbs with strange emotions 
as former generations seem to rise around him to 
welcome him to the shades, companionship, and 
repose of the dead. 

The consecration and adornment of places of 
burial, though hallowed by the observance of 
ages, are explained and justified only by man's 
immortality. Without assuming this, they ap- 
pear to be an idle and extravagant show. The 
decaying remains of the body mock the proudest 
monument. The dust of the sepulchre does not 
appreciate any magnificence in brass or marble. 
If annihilation is the reward of the righteous and 
wicked alike, the cemetery utters no warning to 
vice, no promise to virtue. By groundless and 
invidious distinctions it can only mock the dying 
and perplex the living. Materialism proclaims 



THE TRANSLATION. 269 

funeral obsequies, adornment of sepulchres, the 
grief of mourners, unreasonable and profitless. It 
declares that all feeling, sentiment, and hope of 
humanity perish as the blush of flowers of garden 
and field — that all harmony of truth and duty 
and jubilance of happiness and hope are warbled 
out, like the melody of birds, into eternal silence. 
It clouds with fear the whole of life, and ushers 
man at its close into the utter darkness of de- 
spair. The staff of promise which he leans upon 
so trustingly at the end of his pilgrimage it seeks 
to wrest from his trembling hand. The light of 
faith, guiding his doubtful steps through the val- 
ley and shadow of death, it seeks to extinguish. 
Bereaved kindred, bearing the remains of loved 
ones with calm trust to a consecrated grave, it 
proclaims dupes of imposture. It turns every 
graveyard into a Valley of Achor, foreboding 
gloom to all generations. When anguish and 
grief stand by the open tomb, gazing for the last 
time through tearful eyes upon the face of the 
loved, it approaches as a messenger of Satan, and 
with malignant complacency whispers in the ear, 
" Lost for ever!" Over every tomb alike, with 
tones repressive of all hope, it sullenly mutters, 
"Death is an eternal sleep." Materialism makes 
earth a ghastly arena of blind fate, where man in 

23 



270 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

terror reaches forth his hand in the darkness only 
to touch another also groping in terror like his 
own. 

Profane teacher ! treacherous guide ! prophet of 
despair ! we recoil from thy baleful teaching 
with instinctive dread. An unreal universe, pro- 
viding repose for faith and opening vistas for hope, 
were a paradise to thy malignant reign of chance 
and chaos, obstruction and death ! 

Christianity, dissipating this gloom, consecrates 
the grave as a portal to eternity, and adorns the 
cemetery with symbols of a blessed immortality. 

Over one entrance to. the double gateway of 
Greenwood is sculptured the resurrection of the 
widow's son. At the command of Christ the 
carriers of the bier lay it down and shrink back 
^bashed before the manifest Deity. At the divine 
touch the dead awakens, and the awe-stricken 
mother receives her own back again. In rever- 
ence and triumph disciples contemplate the mira- 
cle. Beneath the scene the words stand out in 
bold relief, a consolatory appeal to all the be- 
reaved : " Weep not." 

On the opposite fajade is the resurrection of 
Lazarus. Christ is at the door of the sepulchre in 
the posture of command. Mary stands near him, 
her countenance beaming with hope. Martha 



THE TRANSLATION. 271 

watches, at a distance behind projecting rocks, with 
an expression of doubt and grateful surprise. Four 
apostles contemplate the scene with elation of joy 
and triumph. " Come forth !" is written beneath — 
a hope-inspiring mandate to the dead. 

Over the other entrance is the entombment of 
Christ. He has just been taken down from the 
cross and prepared for burial. Conspicuously be- 
neath the dead Christ and his ministering friends 
we read, "The dead shall be raised.' ' On the 
opposite side of this entrance is the scene of 
Christ's resurrection. He appears coming forth 
from Joseph's rocky tomb with elastic step and 
radiant brow. The soldiers guarding it are strick- 
en with terror, and one of them has fallen to the 
ground. By the resurrection of Christ the spirit- 
ual world has been opened to the hopes of pilgrim 
generations as the Western Hemisphere to aspira- 
tions of suffering or needy populations of the Old 
World. 

A massive granite column rising from a central 
and elevated site in Greenwood bears on its four 
sides inscriptions of the faith and hope of Christen- 
dom. On one side, " One generation goeth;" on 
the next, "Another generation cometh;" on the 
third, "God shall wipe away all tears;" and on 
the last, "There shall be no night there." 



272 WILLIAM COLGATE. 

Oh, blessed gospel ! cheering life's pilgrimage 
with the promises of immortality ! Even as an 
unauthenticated message^ it is a more blessed 
revelation than the demonstrations of science. 
Wandering in starry realms of illusive hopes as- 
sures more happiness and virtue than plunging 
into the palpable gloom of materialism. Better 
cheat our souls with beautiful visions of immortal- 
ity than immolate them on the altar of positive 
philosophy, doomed to perish with beasts and 
birds, insects and flowers. 

Such thoughts did not trouble William Colgate. 
He longed to meet prophets, apostles, martyrs, 
and pious kindred in the " general assembly and 
church of the first-born M that shall gather from 
all lands and ages to the presence and glory of 
Christ. 

Through the gateway of Greenwood and its 
winding avenues his remains were borne to a 
commanding eminence, fit symbol of his exalted 
character. Here arose a colossal granite shaft, a 
striking emblem of the strength of his Christian 
manhood. Here, with three generations grouped 
around him, our brother sleeps the last sleep of 
earth. 

Sometimes large sums are left for repairing and 
adorning tombs. But in a few generations indi- 



THE TRANSLATION. 273 

vidual and family distinction disappears in the 
blended aspects of a cemetery. But the name in- 
scribed on that granite shaft — descended from an 
heroic ancestry, honored by a worthy posterity, 
celebrated by public institutions, cherished by a 
great denomination, and guarded by that Provi- 
dence that assures immortality to him who clings 
to Christ the Life, and works the works of God — 
will long be repeated in the assemblies and in the 
annals of Christ's church. 

A great writer represents the instinct of patriot- 
ism and of national faith in the person of a vener- 
able man traversing Scotland restoring the tombs 
of its worthies. In restored loyalty to Christ and 
his church the works and names of his witnesses 
will be restored and celebrated, when the names 
of popes, prelates, and ambitious sectaries shall 
be forgotten, or recalled only with pity or con- 
tempt. But even if this name should fade from 
the memories of the living ; the graves of its wor- 
thies cease to be adorned by a grateful people ; if 
Greenwood should be abandoned to the jackal 
and the trader in relics, like the cemeteries of an- 
cient capitals ; and the remains of populous em- 
pires be blended in common dust, — still our brother's 
record will remain on high, imperishable. He has 
heard that award more authoritative than edict of 

3 



274 



WILLIAM COLGATE. 



king, decree of senate, proclamation of knightly, 
military, or civic order, benediction of pope or 
synod: "Well done, good and faithful servant! 
enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." He has 
triumphantly entered the heavenly mansions. He 
is enrolled in the succession of patriarchs, prophets, 
apostles, martyrs, and saints of all lands and ages, 



THE END. 



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